


throwing kisses from the sky

by WonderBoy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Allies of Convenience and Necessity to Lovers, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Not Human, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Lance is a flaming bisexual and you can tear that from my cold bisexual hands, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Older Characters, Original Universe, Rating May Change, Rebels, Slow Burn, Team as Family, eventually, is it obvious that lance is my favorite character? probably, kind of, more like, more pairings may be added, this is probably gonna be in-depth and ridiculous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2018-12-13 13:56:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11761341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderBoy/pseuds/WonderBoy
Summary: “Flight log 5-2-26, begin ascent for getaway!” Lance shouted with a laugh, gunning them forward before the ship doors fully closed.  A crash came from the back, followed by a groan.“Lance! Can’t you keep this thing straight?” Pidge griped from besides him as she struggled into her seat.“And warn us before shooting off like that?” Hunk added, from, what sounded like, the floor.Lance rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’ve been flying with me this long and you still don’t have your sea legs? C’mon, speedy getaways are our thing.”Before Hunk could come up with any kind of response, a rapid beeping started up from a scanner in front of Pidge. She hissed sharply. “I’d like not dying to be our thing."XThings seemed simple enough: Get supplies from base to base without being discovered and tortured by the Galra. Repeat until a turn in the war, or you die, whichever comes first.Lance really should have figured out by now that nothing was ever as simple as it seemed.





	1. det är bara du, jag och månen

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really pumped about this AU
> 
> Which probably means I'm getting in way over my head, but I still hope you can enjoy reading about this new world as much as I have enjoyed writing about it so far

_Water black_  
_As the moon is full_  
_Warm nightbreeze whispers_  
_I'm naked and new_  
_I know you're always throwing kisses from the sky_  
_Well, tonight I caught one_

_-Shekina, Blindside_

* * *

 

“Flight log 5-2-26, begin ascent for getaway!” Lance shouted with a laugh, gunning them forward before the ship doors fully closed.  A crash came from the back, followed by a groan.

“Lance! Can’t you keep this thing straight?” Pidge griped from besides him as she struggled into her seat.

“And warn us before shooting off like that?” Hunk added, from, what sounded like, the floor.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’ve been flying with me this long and you still don’t have your sea legs? C’mon, speedy getaways are our _thing_.”

Before Hunk could come up with any kind of response, a rapid beeping started up from a scanner in front of Pidge. She hissed sharply. “I’d like not dying to be our thing-bank right.”

“Yeesh, testy. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the spaceship.” Lance teased. He chanced a glance down at the scanner. Three ships in pursuit. With a sharp tug on the yoke, he sent them to the right.

“Up. Up, up, up!” Pidge shouted the moment they straightened out again, choosing to ignore his teasing for the sake of getting them out of there. “Lance, seriously, they’re gaining on us!”

He chanced a second look. Four cruisers. “We can take ‘em.”

“Lance!”

“Alright, alright I’m going.”

They shot forward. Dodging shots and slipping over parked ships, the end of the docking platform appeared in the horizon, seconds away from them. Suddenly something hit the side of the ship. Veering far to the left, Lance and Pidge scrambled to steady themselves, just enough to make it to the exit.

“Hunk, what the hell is going on?” He asked through grit teeth. The whole ship shook with the effort of staying upright. Pidge began tapping away rapidly at the controls but nothing gained any kind of response from the ship.

“They hit a stabilizer. I’m gonna have to try and fix it manually from the back.” Hunk answered finally, voice wavering uncertainly.

Pidge glanced back at him and winced. “He doesn’t look too good.”

Lance tightened his grip on the yoke, hunkering down for a bumpy ride. Two more of the thin Galra cruisers appeared, this time directly in front of them. “None of us are gonna look good if they catch up. Hold on.”

It took Pidge all of three seconds to realize what he was thinking of doing. “Lance, _no_.”

Despite the sirens blaring, and the ship going haywire, Lance grinned. “C’mon, no worries. My first year at the academy, know what they called me? ‘The Tailor.’ Because of how I thread the needle.”

“You didn’t go to the academy!” Hunk shouted back as he left the bridge.

“How do you think I learned how to fly?”

Turbulence from a ship starting up below them sent the ship off course again. Somewhere in the back, Hunk groaned. Pidge all but slammed her head against the wall as Lance struggled to right them again. “I didn’t think you ever did!” She snapped.

“Buddy, we are really gonna need that stabilizer! Like yesterday!” Lance shouted over her.

If Hunk replied, he was too far back for them to hear. With a grunt, Lance leaned forward. “This is going to be rough sailing.”

Pidge muttered something beside him, just quiet enough that he couldn’t catch it.

Lance flipped the switch in front of him and a seatbelt strapped over his waist from the arm of the control seat. Thank the gods for Pidge’s modifications. The sensors shrieked with the warning of the Galra ships closing in on them, but he tuned the noise out as he narrowed in on the two before them. Taking a deep breath, he said a quick prayer and twisted the controls, hard. Flying almost entirely vertical, they slipped right between the cruisers. A crash behind them sent them hurtling through the air, but one by one the cruisers blinked off their sensors.

“I can’t believe we made it.” Lance said as he righted the ship.

“I hate you.”

Using one hand to unbuckle himself, Lance waved her over. “Take over.”

She shook her head, light hair flying around her shoulders. “No way.”

“Pidge, just hold us steady. We gotta make a jump.”

“We won’t hold up through a jump!” Pidge argued, though she climbed out of her seat and slipped into his.

“Keep us going, as fast as you can.” Lance hugged the wall as he headed towards the back panel. He knew this ship like the back of his hand, but there was nothing easy about moving through a cargo ship on the verge of giving out in the midst of a high-speed chase. He hoped Hunk made it through alright.

Placing his hand against the wall, he unlocked the panel and watched the small screen flash to life. Reaching in, Lance’s hand trailed over the softly thrumming hardware, energy sparking through his arm.

“Hunk, how many jumps could we make in this state?” Pidge asked over the intercom.

“Three would be pushing it.” Hunk’s voice cracked over the speaker almost instantly. “We can’t get far like this, at all. They took out way more than just the stabilizer.”

Lance pushed deeper inside the panel, taking stock of everything within the ship. The layout spread across his mind. He and Pidge in the bridge. Hunk crouched in the engine room, working the best he could with the deteriorating side of the ship. Even as Lance reached further, more and more of the ship slipped away as they sped through the sky.

“How’s the cargo?”

“All still here, miraculously. The khyjids are okay too, just freaked out.” Hunk answered.

Lance searched for the khyjids’ energy signatures within the ship. There. In the dormitory. All five of them were safe, but curled up under a bed, hiding.

“Lance? If we’re going to jump we have to do it now. We have some new friends to the party.” Pidge called over her shoulder.

Connected to the ship, he could feel every disturbance as more Galra ships caught up with them. Each tug as more of the ship became space junk. Lance focused, making sure everything and everyone was completely accounted for. _Now._

The wormhole opened.

They rocketed forward.

The second Lance felt the last inch of the ship enter the wormhole, he pulled back. The panel snapped shut. Pidge slipped out of the seat as Lance returned to the head. She was reading the scanners for signs of distress before he had even sat down again.

“You did four jumps?”

He shrugged. “Hunk always did like to play is safe.”

Darkness spread endlessly before them. Wormhole jumps were always the most unsettling way to travel. There was no way of telling up from down, forward from back. Just endless darkness. Until it spit you out somewhere else in the universe. And you had to hope it was actually sending you to the right place. Lance shook his head, banishing that train of thought. The last thing he needed to do was start reliving old nightmares in the daytime too.

“Find the nearest friendly planet to our estimated exit point. We need new parts, and possibly a third mechanic. Just to be safe.”

“No promises.” Pidge replied, but she was already searching their databases. Lance had done his best to send them in the direction of where their shipment was headed to begin with, but he always had a harder time controlling the jumps when under distress.

When Hunk finally came stumbling back onto the bridge, there was a green tint to his face as he glared at Lance. “I explicitly said _three_ jumps. I know I did.”

Lance smiled innocently. “Sorry, buddy.”

“Buckle up, boys. We’re comin’ in hot to Yestru.” Pidge cut off the rest of Lance’s well-deserved scolding.

Hunk groaned but did as instructed. “I hate Yestru.”

“It’s the best bet for us to get what we need, and not be detected until we’re operational again.” She shot a sharp look to Lance. “As long as _someone_ can keep it in his pants this time, we should be fine.”

Lance made a sharp noise of indignation. “Okay, first of all, _she_ came onto _me_. And second, how was I suppose to know she was the daughter of a Yestruhiri warlord?”

Pidge punched in their coordinates. The space before them began to lighten, finally, as they reached the end of their jump.

“This time, just assume everyone is off-limits. Take a vow of abstinence until we leave.”

“To be fair, the fact that Lance _also_ slept with his second-in-command and they vouched for him is what saved us.” Hunk added.

Pidge turned to glare at him. He held up his hands helplessly.

“I didn’t sleep with him! We didn’t get that far, considering his boss kind of interrupted our date. But thank you, Hunk.” Lance scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Do you think he’s mad that I never called him back after that?”

“Oh, we’re gonna die.”

At that uplifting prediction, the wormhole spit them out into the crowded outer rings of Yestru. Lance scrambled to regain control of the ship as they hurtled past space junk and the tail end of a Yestruhiri fleet exiting the atmosphere.

“Hunk, can you start the adjustment for atmospheric changes as we descend?”

“One step ahead of you.”

“Thanks, big guy. Pidge-”

“Signal our intent, I know.”

“What would I do without you two?” Lance asked, batting his eyes at her, despite the fact that she was staring down at the controls.

“Still be stranded on Pochoth?” Pidge quipped, cheekily. Hunk tried, and failed, to smother his laughter.

Lance bit back his retort as a bright light flashed on before him. “Oh no.”

 _That_ got Pidge’s attention. “What?”

“I have to do a manual landing.”

Hunk groaned again.

With a grunt, Pidge pulled open a compartment under the main control station. A second yoke slid up through the machinery. “Hunk, do whatever you can to compensate for what we lost.” Pidge directed. Lance watched her pull out more bits and pieces, connecting wires mid-flight. Lance was always proud of how comfortable he was in his own ship, but sometimes, in moments like this, he was reminded that Pidge and Hunk basically rebuilt her. If there was anyone who might know the ship better than him, it would be one of them. Satisfied with whatever modifications she was doing, Pidge looked up at Lance. “Just worry about steering us towards a repair dock. I’ll help with the rest.”

Lance couldn’t help himself, he laughed. “Woo! Best damn rebel team in _any_ galaxy, right here.”

Pidge rolled her eyes, but he saw the smile she tried to hide by turning away from him. “Just focus.”

With the three of them working in tandem, the ship rocked into place with surprising ease, considering all the obstacles in their way. Within the ship, however, the descent was not a smooth one, and they were all a little worse for wear by the time they landed.

“If this is how Hunk feels all of the time, I take back every complaint I ever made about his motion sickness.” Pidge groaned, slipping from her seat to lie on the floor.

Lance silently agreed from his own position on the floor.

“We need to get out and sign our ship into the dock.” Pidge made no move to get up. Lance made a quiet noise of acknowledgement, but didn’t bother to move, either. “And we need to start looking for parts.”

“Shh, Pigeon. Just relax. A few more minutes.”

Surprisingly, it was Hunk who recovered first and rousted them from the floor. After check in, and profound apologizes to the dockmaster for the state of their arrival, they parted ways. Hunk and Pidge headed towards the Hara shopping district to look for parts. Lance went back to the ship with orders to “stay out of trouble.”

Complaining all the while, Lance did as requested. Someone needed to take stock of what they had on board, anyways. He grabbed a check pad from Pidge’s storage and headed to the cargo hold.

Crates of food sat at the front of the hold, depleted but enough to get them to Askides, as long as they didn’t have too many more mishaps. Normally, they liked to restock as often as possible, considering one never really knew when something could delay or redirect a trip, but they were discovered far sooner than they ever expected on Tharvis. Which meant they probably couldn’t return there. Thravi weren’t known for their loyalty to anyone who wasn’t Thravi, but Lance had been sure their supplier was actually on their side. With how quickly the Galra sniffed them out, however, the bounty on their heads must be growing.

“Damn you, Koszik.” Lance muttered as he continued on. Too bad he wasn’t actually Thravi and could send that particular sentiment straight to the backstabbing, sell-out himself.

The cargo in the back of the hold was the really important stuff. And they made it out of Thravis with enough medicine to last Askides at least a few months. So, it wasn’t a total failure of a trip. Lance took extra care, counting each bottle and bandage as he made his way through the hold. They could get extra food just about anywhere, but medicine untouched by the Galra was far and few between, and Askides was in desperate need of restocking. Rebel groups existed across the galaxies, but there were very few full planets that managed to hold their own against Galra invasions. When Lance, Pidge, and Hunk had left Askides last, the invasion had let up considerably, a waste of Galra time, energy, and resources for a rock barely big enough to be considered a planet, but they hadn’t been able to reach the Commander at their last check in, and they were starting to worry.

A noise at the front of the hold startled Lance out of his thoughts. Whirling around, one hand already on the blaster at his hip, Lance found one of the khyjids watching him with big, golden eyes. The khyjids were a rare, large, cat-like species, so rare, in fact, that Lance had never seen a single khyjid that wasn’t one of the kittens he had raised. Their skin was sleek but tough, almost like leather, and they could change it to blend in with their environments, or to something else entirely. Save for the tips of their ears, tails, and the bottom of their feet, that were constantly a dark, shiny black. The largest khyjid, Kuro, reached Lance’s waist standing on all fours, and easily towered over him on her hind legs. The smallest, Meadow, reached just above his knees. Their long, thin ears had hearing capabilities he still wasn’t sure he fully understood. A bite or a scratch from a khyjid could be venomous if they thought you were a danger, but even if you managed to avoid their heads, long, strong tails could easily take out a grown man with one well aimed swipe. All in all, a dangerous species.

“Hello, Daisy-Maisy. We’re you scared of the little bump we took? I’m sorry.” Lance cooed at the golden-coated khyjid staring at him. The second tallest, and easily the heaviest, of the group, she could make a fearsome image. But Lance perpetually saw them all as the tiny, helpless kittens he had found years ago.

Daisy replied with a soft rumble and moved further into the hold. Twisting herself around his legs, she laid on the floor with a huff. Lance smiled, leaning down to scratch behind her ears. The spindly ends twitched at his touch.

“Oh, you miss, Hunk, don’t you? You wanna cuddle with the big guy? He’ll be back soon and give you all the kisses you want.” Lance promised. Daisy replied with another rumble, making no effort to move.

Lance had no problem spending the rest of the day cuddling with the big babies, but he really didn’t want to do it in the middle of the cramped cargo hold.

“Hey, how about we go find your sisters and put on a movie? Yeah? Big cuddle pile. That cheers everyone up!”

Daisy squinted at him through one eye. Without visible pupils or irises, it was hard to tell exactly where a khyjid was looking, but Lance liked to think he had gotten pretty good at figuring it out.

“I’ll give you prickle fruit while Hunk’s gone.”

That, finally, had her off her feet and headed towards the door. Once she reached the hall, she looked back as if she couldn’t understand why Lance wasn’t right behind her.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

 

Lance and Daisy found the other khyjids already waiting in the kitchens. Lance watched them suspiciously as he went to the fridge. That was another thing about them. He had no proof, or another group of them to compare with, but he was fairly certain they could communicate with each other with some kind of telepathy. They always seemed to know exactly where the others were, and what was going on within the ship-if one of them was hurt, or scared, or getting a special treat they were normally denied.

“Don’t anyone tell on me.” Lance reminded them as he pulled out the sweets. Five sets of unblinking gold eyes stared back at him.

Lance offered the small, red fruit to Daisy first, who made a show of swallowing it whole. Meadow, with her mossy coat, was next, but Lance made her climb off the table before she got it. Once on the ground, Meadow sat beside Kuro, an entertaining contrast of size and coloring. Kuro, aside from her eyes, was entirely black. She could move like a shadow through the ship, silent and unseen. She was frightening, but also one of the gentlest creatures Lance had ever known. When he offered her the prickle fruit, she took it from his hand gently, forked tongue running over his fingers once in thanks. Anise and Azure were piled on top of each other when he turned to them. Despite being larger than her rust-colored sister, Azure sprawled on top of Anise. Azure nibbled on Anise’s ear, but Anise’s ease made it appear as if there was nothing more than a pesky fly hanging around her head, rather than a feline with razor-sharp fangs using her as a chew toy. Lance was careful to offer the fruit to the girls at the exact same time. They always had an odd relationship within the group and he did what he could to avoid angering the two of them, or pitting them against each other.

Lance tried not to have favorites, they were all his children, but he always felt he had a special connection to Azure. Her steel colored coat was the plainest of the five at first glance, but in the sun, on the rare occasion that he could let them outside, Azure’s grey turned a dazzling shade of blue. She was also the first of the khyjids that he found. A tiny, helpless thing barely able to walk, he had startled her when he stumbled into the cave they were hidden in, attempting to outsmart a Galra soldier he had stolen from. At first, she did her best to appear frightening, arching her back and baring nonexistent fangs, but at the time she could fit in his two hands and weighed next to nothing. So, he offered her some of the stolen food. She warmed up to him after that, and eventually led him deeper into the cave, where the other four were hidden. Kuro was injured and couldn’t move from their nest. A few feet away, their mother’s body lay stiff and cold, in a pool of blood that came from a wound on her side. Lance, at the time, didn’t know what the strange creatures were, but he took it upon himself to care for them until they were old enough to live on their own. But by then, they were attached. And so, they stayed with him, wherever he went.

Once everyone was fed, Lance headed towards the dormitories. They followed behind him like a train of ducklings through the ship. There really was no comfortable way to fit on one of the dormitory beds with five fully grown khyjids, but tried his best to squeeze between them after popping on a movie. He hated being cooped up in the ship, as he’s sure they did too, but he knew he wasn’t any help to Pidge or Hunk at the market. He could fly this ship like it was an extension of himself, but he didn’t know the first thing when it came to matching parts or identifying quality from crap. And while he would never admit to Pidge that she might be right, it probably was best that he lay low for a while on Yestru.

They made it through at least an hour of the movie before Lance heard the shouting outside.

“What’s going on?” He asked aloud, extracting himself from the bed. Azure watched him without moving from her spot on the bed, as if trying to summon him back. He met her eyes. “Did you hear something?”

She pointedly turned away from him. Which was her way of wanting to stay out of whatever it was. Lance sighed, wondering why he didn’t ever follow her lead, even as he slipped on his shoes.

The closer to the front of the ship he got, the louder the commotion was. For a moment, all Lance could see were other ships parked and waiting for repairs or departure. He was ready to chalk it up to some Yestruhiri locals just being rowdy nearby, when he saw them.

A dark-haired man in a black body suit was stumbling through the platform, searching frantically for something. Dirt, and what was possibly blood, was smeared across his face and there was a cut through the leg of his uniform. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t move very fast, because he was supporting the weight of a man nearly twice his size, in an even worse condition. Every few seconds, the smaller man looked behind him. They were running from something.

Lance worried his bottom lip, watching them. Pidge and Hunk might actually kill him for getting involved in more trouble. But Lance was far too familiar with that terrified, exhausted expression. Before his common sense could reign supreme, Lance hit the button on the wall beside him. With a soft hiss, the ship door slid open.

The man whirled around, tensing as if waiting for an attack. His dark eyes widened when he saw the open, empty doorway. Lance watched as they scanned across the ship, before finally reaching him.

_Fear._

‘Hurry up.’ Lance mouthed.

The man hesitated, before his companion dropped forward, unconscious. That seemed to make up his mind. With a surprising show of strength, he hefted up his companion and rushed towards the ship.

Lance sighed as he heard feet pound against the floor as the man boarded. Pidge and Hunk were definitely going to kill him.

* * *

 “Leave me.”

Keith grit his teeth, willing the shuttle faster even as he saw the needle shake at the fastest setting. “Shiro. Shut the hell up.”

Shiro laughed wetly beside him, the sad noise turning into harsh coughs that wracked his body. “Keith, c’mon. They won’t hurt me. I’m human, and even if the Galra do find me here, they want me alive. I’ll be fine. I’m just dragging you down.”

Keith took a sharp turn that had Shiro nearly sliding off the seat and Keith scrambling to hold onto him. If they put their hands out, they could touch the dirt road below them. Once they were upright again, and Shiro was fully on the seat again, Keith snapped back a reply. “I’m not leaving you. I didn’t risk this much to get you out, just to abandon you again.”

Shiro dropped his forehead to Keith’s shoulder. Even through his suit, Keith could feel the heat radiating off of him. His fever was getting worse. “Thank you, for coming for me.”

Keith risked a look behind them. The Yestruhiri soldiers were steadily gaining on him, their numbers growing. “Shiro, shut. Up.”

Keith scanned the area for a detour, a short cut, a hiding place, anything to get the Yestruhiri off their backs. Bright yellow signs caught his eye, directing him towards the docks. In the lower level of the city.

“Shiro, can you take one more hit?” Keith asked. He hated to do it, but it was the only thing he could think of that might distract their tail long enough to hide or escape.

Shiro lifted his head, though it was obvious it took more effort than such a simple task should. Keith couldn’t see him, but he could feel the moment Shiro tensed, realizing what Keith was thinking.

“We could die.”

“Got any better ideas?”

Shiro sighed. “No.”

Keith nodded. Yanking the handle bars to the side, he sent them skidding towards the drop off point. “Hold on tight. This is gonna hurt.”

They were airborne. Using his feet on the pedals as a push off point, Keith threw himself and Shiro off of the bike. It went one way, they flew another. Shiro hit the ground first, the breath leaving him in a harsh gasp, and they rolled across the pavement. Keith did his best to use the momentum they already had to get to his feet, but Shiro could barely move on his own and Keith was practically dragging him along the road.

“Last chance to leave me.” Shiro offered once he was finally on his feet. Still, Keith was supporting almost all of his weight as they stumbled down the path. It was certainly faster on the bike, but hopefully their pursuers wouldn’t think them crazy enough to jump from the upper to lower town.

“Not on your life.”

“Where are we going?”

“The docks.”

He felt more than saw Shiro’s grimace. “Keith, we can’t steal a ship.”

“We need to get out of here. Besides, when has anyone on Yestru really cared about legality? Or morals? It’ll fit right in.”

Shiro opened his mouth to reply, but what came out instead was a groan. Keith skidded to a stop, though he knew they shouldn’t be wasting any more time.

“What is it?”

Shiro gestured with the arm not wrapped around his shoulders. The robotic arm. Keith still wasn’t used to that. “My side. The fall must’ve reopened those wounds.”

Keith swore. He had forgotten about the cut along Shiro’s ribs. “Shiro, I’m sorry, this is all my fault-”

Shiro shook his head. “No. Keith, listen to me, _none_ of this is your fault. You saved me. C’mon, we’ve gotta keep moving.”

Keith searched his face. There was pain, but he wasn’t lying. Somehow, after _all_ of this, Shiro still didn’t blame him. Keith would save him, even if it cost him his own life. “Tell me if you need to stop.”

Shiro nodded. And then they were off again.

As far as Keith could tell, they hadn’t been followed yet, but he couldn’t stop himself from checking every few seconds. The sound of the Yestruhiri mob was in the distance, but it didn’t seem to be getting any quieter.

“Keep an eye out for a ship, something small, easy to maneuver.” Keith said as they hurried on.

His eyes scanned the area for anything that could help.

Suddenly the sound of an airlock seal breaking hissed behind them. He whirled around, reaching for his sword as he waited for someone to attack. He was met with the open doorway of an old cargo ship. An _empty,_ open doorway. Keith scanned the ship for signs of a trap. It just looked like a normal cargo ship. Paint was worn away on the side, and it had obviously seen better days, but nothing about it seemed suspicious. Except for the open door.

Then, Keith saw him. A man was standing in the front of the ship, watching him and Shiro. Someone had seen them. They were never going make it out of there. And it was all his fault.

The man’s bright eyes flit away from Keith, just for a moment. When the man met his eye again, he mouthed something.

_Hurry…up?_

Keith looked between the man and the open door. Was he offering them a hiding place? A ride? Why? The man looked human, not Yestruhiri, but could it be a trap? Why else would he be offering two suspicious looking strangers refuge.

Shiro groaned. “Keith, something’s-”

Before he could finish his thought, he passed out. Keith stumbled with the sudden added weight of Shiro going completely limp. Keith looked around. They were running out of time. This was their best bet. With a grunt, Keith lifted Shiro as much as he could and charged towards the ship.

As the door slid shut behind them, he could only pray this wasn’t the biggest mistake of his life.

 


	2. i'm tired of closed eyes fumbling for horizons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took a little longer than I expected, I have been out of town for what is in total about one week but feels more like a month

_What am I to desire_  
_where the humble and honest way_  
_further pressed into desire?_  
_Just hold on;_  
_As gently as you can_  
_Hold on;_  
_This might not go as planned_  
_Just hold on_  
_Who am I to say hold on?_  
_This could be my last day_  
_Just hold on_

_-Beneath the Fire, Evaline_

* * *

 Keith wasn’t sure what to expect once he boarded the ship, but a strange, four-legged creature blocking their path was not on the list. The grey animal bared long, vicious looking fangs and growled.

“Azure!” The man snapped, followed by a command in a language Keith didn’t recognize.

The creature stopped growling, and backed up, but its teeth were still bared in warning. His gaze moved to the man that had allowed them onboard. The man held up one hand in reassurance, his expression nervous but open. Still, Keith didn’t miss the way his other hand curled around the holster of a blaster at his hip.

“She won’t hurt you as long as she doesn’t deem you a threat.” The man said. Marginally comforting, Keith supposed. “Who are you?”

He bristled. “Why?”

“Because I’m risking my ass hiding you from the Yestruhiri and I can just as easily shove you back out and let them deal with you.” The man snapped, just as quick to go on the defense.

Keith grimaced. Why did Shiro have to pass out? He was so much better at this kind of thing that him. Which reminded him, _Shiro_. Keith didn’t like it, but this man was his best bet for the moment.

“Keith.” The second the name was out of his mouth, he wondered if he should have given a fake name. It was too late now. Not that he would have known another name to give. One of the Blade members? Keith at least sounded human. And whoever this man was, he looked human, he didn’t quite smell like it, but he looked it. So surely, he’d respond better to humans.

The man nodded. “Who’s your friend?”

Keith hated to give that name even more. “Shiro.”

“Okay, Keith. My name is Lance. Can I help you move him? We have medicine in the back.” Lance asked. He waited for Keith to give the okay before dropping his hand from his side and going to Shiro. Keith didn’t realize how much he was straining to keep holding him up until Lance took half of Shiro’s weight onto his own shoulders. The strange grey creature stayed at their backs, eyes following Keith as they moved through the ship.

They reached the open doorway of the engine room when the siren started. Lance swore. Keith turned to him, not sure what was happening.

“They’re ordering a search.” He shoved Keith and Shiro into the engine room. The two of them laid Shiro on the ground in the back corner of the room. “Alright, what the hell did you guys do?”

“Nothing.” It wasn’t a lie, technically.

Lance’s expression hardened. “I’m risking a helluva lot to help you, and I don’t need any more Yestruhiri on my ass, so tell me the truth or I’ll tell them you snuck on board.”

“Not Shiro.” Keith insisted before he could think better of it.

He balked. “What?”

“Give me up, I don’t care. But not Shiro.” He grit his teeth. “ _Please_.”

Lance searched his face for something. Keith couldn’t imagine what, but he seemed to find it. “Oh hell.” He shoved Keith in the corner with Shiro, catching him off guard. “Stay down.” He made two sharp clicking noises with his tongue.

A few seconds later, another one of the strange creatures appeared in the doorway. This one was gold, and even larger than the first. Lance spoke to the two of them in the language Keith didn’t know. The moment he stopped speaking, the two creatures approached Keith and Shiro. Keith scrambled for his sword, but before he could find it, the two stopped. They simply stood in front of him and Shiro, head to head. They were blocking them. But why? Keith looked past them, for Lance again.

He had a hand pressed against a panel of wall. His eyes were closed as he focused on something. Keith couldn’t imagine what. When he broke away, Keith could have sworn something around his eyes was glowing, but it was gone in an instant. Then, of all things, he pulled off his shirt. Keith watched, confusion only mounting, as Lance shoved the grey shirt into the back pocket of his pants. Reaching around the machinery on the wall, he came away with something dripping dark from his hand. He left a swipe of it across his cheek and forehead, and mused part of his hair with it. He wiped the remaining on his other hand, and the leg of his pants. Oil. He looked like he had just been working.

“Dockmaster Goso, three to board Aurora.” A voice cracked through a speaker on the wall.

Lance hit the intercom and threw on a dazzling smile, even though the only one around to see it was Keith. “Goso, my man, what’s this about?”

“We are searching for fugitives. A Galra and a human. We will board by force.”

Lance whirled around to Keith, horror stricken. His expression might have bordered on comical, had their lives not been on the line. “ _What_?”

Keith opened and closed his mouth, not sure what to say. What was there to say? “I’m not a soldier.”

“Aurora?”

Lance slammed his hand against the intercom. “Just a tick, you caught me waist deep in a 5-16.”

“Hm.”

Lance whirled back to Keith, blaster pointed at his head. He was a quick draw. Faster than Keith would have guessed. “You have 30 seconds. Explain. _Now_. Why do you look like a human?”

“I _am_ human. Half, at least.” Keith was desperate for Lance to believe him. “I’m with the Blade of Marmora!”

He scoffed. “The Blade? They’re a myth.”

Keith gaped. “What?” Before he could think better, Keith reached for his knife. In the blink of an eye, both of the strange creatures pounced on him, knocking the weapon from his hand and pinning him to the ground. He felt the air leave his chest on impact and suddenly two sets of razor sharp fangs were far too close to his neck for comfort. “The knife. Look at the knife.” He gasped. If Lance knew about the Blade of Marmora enough to know the name, maybe, _just maybe,_ he knew their symbol.

Seconds passed by, agonizingly slow, but then, the creatures were called off. Once he could breathe again, Keith sat up. He ended up eye to eye with the handle of his knife. His eyes trailed up the length, to find Lance holding it out to him by the tip of the blade. There was something haunted in his gaze, as if he had seen a ghost. Keith hesitantly took the knife back. Lance’s eyes trailed to Shiro, where he still laid unconscious beside Keith.

“Is _he_ really human?”

Was there an easy answer to that? “Yes.”

“What are you doing with him?”

Keith studied Lance’s face. Well, he didn’t have much else to lose now. “He’s my brother. I broke him out of a Galra prison.”

“Aurora!”

“Comin’!” Lance didn’t even bother with the intercom, raising his voice enough that it made Keith wince. He said something to the creatures again, and left the engine room.

Keith reached for Shiro, heart racing.

_He had a pulse._

It took almost all of his self-control not to cry in relief. Shiro’s breathing was shallow, and blood had soaked through almost the entire right side of his shirt, but he was alive. Keith sat against the wall, keeping one hand on Shiro’s chest, a physical reminder that he was okay.

Neither of the creatures were looking at him, but they were standing guard once again. The longer Keith stared at them, the less sure he become of what he was seeing. At first, he had thought they were solid, grey and gold, but now they seemed to waiver before him, as if they were more of an illusion than actual living, breathing creatures. They had certainly felt real though.

Muffled footsteps came from the hall outside. Keith strained to listen.

“Oh, we’re only here for a pit stop. We needed some extra supplies. We took quite a hit on Thravis.” Lance said as they walked.

Keith’s brow furrowed. _Thravis?_ Surely, he had to have heard that wrong. There was a huge Galra population stationed on Thravis.

Lance laughed suddenly. “Oh, I see how it is, Baldur. I thought you were here for work.”

“And you’re sure you are alone?” One of the Yestruhiri asked.

“Mmhm. But my crew should be back soon.”

Did he sound…sad? Keith couldn’t fathom what was going on.

“This is the engine room?”

Keith’s eyes widened. _What?_ He was giving them up after all?

Lance entered the room first. Across the room, he met Keith’s eye as if trying to communicate something to him, though what, he couldn’t imagine. A Yestruhiri officer followed after him. Towering over Lance, he made the small room feel significantly more cramped. Keith tensed, waiting for them to be discovered. But the Yestruhiri stared right at him, with no reaction. Pale eyes passed over them as if they weren’t there at all.

After a full scan of the room, he turned back to Lance. One large hand wrapped around his waist and pulled him close. “You didn’t tell me you knew engines.”

Lance laughed awkwardly, not meeting the larger man’s eye. “I’ve recently picked up on the skill. My crew was getting tired of me not helping.”

“Are you sure we can’t pick up where we left off last time?”

He offered the Yestruhiri a sad smile. “They really will be back soon. But if we have a free day, I’m yours.”

“Baldur!” Another Yestruhiri shouted from somewhere else on the ship. “ _Stop screwing the human pet and come on! They’re clear and we still have to find those little rats!_ ”

Lance glared at the door, over Baldur’s shoulder. “She knows I can understand her, right?”

Baldur flashed an apologetic grin, though Keith personally thought the mouthful of needle like teeth took away from any comfort it might have otherwise had. “Sorry, it’s nothing personal. She’s not a fan of humans. And sorry we had to bother you like this. I’ll let you get back to work.”

Lance waved farewell. The moment the door to the engine room slid shut, his smile dropped. “I’m a horrible, horrible person.”

When he recovered from…whatever that was, Lance waved the creatures away from Keith and Shiro. They slunk away, only to perch on either side of him. Now that he was actually on the ground, it was a little harder for Lance and Keith to lift Shiro between them, but somehow they managed. Lance led the way to a dormitory of some kind. A small bed was pulled out from the wall, and stripped, save for a thin, white sheet. Together they wrestled Shiro onto the mattress.

Once he was situated, Lance waved for Keith to come with him. He hesitated. Lance hadn’t given them up, somehow he had even hidden them in plain sight, but Keith just got Shiro back. He didn’t want to let him out of sight for a moment.

“The khyjids will watch him. C’mon. You need to come tell me if there’s any medicine he can’t have.”

Keith glanced at the creatures waiting by the door. _Khyjids?_

Running out of patience, Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist and hauled him out of the room. Keith did his best to resist, but Lance was a lot stronger than he looked. He led Keith down to the cargo hold. The room was filled ceiling to floor with crates of medical supplies.

“You’re a trader.” Keith didn’t mean to say the realization aloud, but it was too late now. Lance stared at him as if there was something wrong with him.

“What else would I be doing in a discontinued cargo ship hiding out on an outlaw planet like Yestru?”

Admittedly, Keith didn’t have an answer for that. Lance turned back to the crates with a roll of his eyes. Occasionally he would ask Keith about any allergies Shiro might have, or hand him something to hold. Otherwise, he let an awkward silence fester over them. Keith wasn’t ever much of a conversationalist, but he got the feeling brooding silences weren’t really normal for Lance.

Lance couldn’t seem to find something in the crate he was searching through and disappeared deeper into the hold. Just as Keith turned to follow him, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Perched atop one of the taller piles, a rust-colored creature stared down at him with unblinking, glowing eyes. What did Lance call them? Khyjids?

“Uh, hello?”

Nothing.

“Um…Lance?” He called louder. A muffled grunt came in reply. “Why is one of those creatures staring at me?”

Lance reappeared at his side, dumping a new pile of supplies into Keith’s arms. “What are you talking about?”

“Those…creatures you have.” Keith didn’t want to get the name wrong, but he stumbled for an accurate comparison.

Confused, Lance looked around the room. Finally, he spotted the creature. “Anise, get down from there before you hurt yourself.” He said to the creature. Its tail twitched in the air once, but it made no move to do as it was told. Lanced turned back to Keith. “They’re khyjids. And she’s staring at you because she doesn’t trust you.”

“What have I done to make her distrust me?”

Lance stared at him dryly. “You’re apparently a Galra who we found running from a group of soldiers, so I’m gonna say the more accurate question would be ‘what have you done that _is_ trustworthy?’”

Keith wasn’t sure why it mattered to him that this stranger trusted him, other than a, previously dormant, self-preservation instinct kicking in, but it did. “I haven’t lied to you.”

“What?”

“I haven’t lied to you. Since I’ve been on the ship, _you_ ’ve lied. So out of the two of us, wouldn’t that make _me_ the more trustworthy one?”

Lance bristled. Maybe not the best thing to point out.

“That was to save your sorry-ass, convict. Don’t make me regret it.” Lance turned on his heel, storming out of the hold. The red khyjid leapt from her perch to walk beside him. Keith scrambled to follow after them, taking care not to drop any of the materials Lance had handed him. Despite walking behind them, Keith got the distinct feeling that the khyjid was paying far more attention to him that her surroundings.

Back in the dormitory, the room was empty save for Shiro. Keith’s brow furrowed as he looked around.

“I thought you said the khyjids would watch him? Where are they?”

Lance looked around as if he hadn’t noticed the room was empty. “Oh, they’re here. Don’t get your panties in a twist. Now help me get his shirt off so I can clean these wounds.”

 

Keith wasn’t sure how long they had been working-or rather, how long Lance had been working, when someone else boarded the ship. Keith had been focusing on everything Lance was doing so it actually wasn’t the sound of someone boarding that alerted him to the addition, but rather a khyjid seemingly materializing out of thin air besides him.

The sound of him falling to the floor in surprise was what seemed to wake Lance out of his work-trace.

“Told you they were still here.” Lance said, obviously fighting back laughter. All humor bled from Lance’s expression as he seemed to realize what the khyjid’s departure meant. “Who left?” He asked, standing from the stool he had been crouched on and peeling off the surgical gloves.

“Uh…the yellow one? How many are there exactly?”

Rather than answering, Lance followed after the khyjid, with instructions to stay put directed at Keith.

* * *

“You’re back!” Lance greeted, sliding into the bridge after Daisy.

Said khyjid was trying her best to jump into Hunk’s arms, despite the fact that they were full of new parts for the ship. She did pause, however, to send Lance a dirty look. Yeah, she wasn’t a fan of their new guests.

Pidge dropped her bags to the floor and crossed her arms. “What did you do?”

Lance laughed awkwardly. “Katie. Pidge. Pigeon. I don’t…know what you’re talking about. Me? What would make you think I did _anything_? In fact, I never even left the ship, just like you instructed.”

He really was a horrible liar, he had absolutely no idea how the Yestruhiri didn’t see through him in a second.

“Lance,” Hunk started, placing his packages down as well. Oh, that was not good. “Did you break more of the ship?”

“Of course not! I’m not totally incompetent. I did man this ship by myself before the two of you.” He insisted, offended by the insinuation.

“Then what?” Pidge demanded.

Lance sighed. There really was no easy explanation. Maybe if their two new guests were both _human_ but…“It’s probably just best you come with me.”

Pidge and Hunk exchanged concerned expressions, but followed him through the ship without question. One by one they piled into the small extra room. Shiro was still unconscious, but his color, under scruffy facial hair and dirt, was considerably better than before and his fever was already breaking. Keith, on the other hand, looked like he was going to be sick just watching them enter the room.

“Hunk, Pidge, meet Keith. And Shiro, though he’s not conscious right now. They’re um…fugitives?”

Silence built uncomfortably in the room until Lance began to worry he had genuinely broken his friends. Pidge was the first to recover.

“Lance, what the fuck?”

“Okay, I know it sounds bad. But they obviously needed help. I mean, look at the big guy. I’ve been cleaning out and stitching up wounds for like an hour and his fever was nearing hyperthermia levels, it was not pretty. And the Yestruhiri were after them, even though they didn’t do anything!”

“Why would the Yestruhiri be after them if they didn’t do anything?” Hunk asked.

“…Keith is Galra. Apparently.”

Lance wasn’t really sure who’s reaction was best. Hunk turned a little green in the face, looking at Keith as if maybe all this time he hadn’t really known what the Galra looked like. Pidge went straight for her blaster. Keith’s expression was a mix of complete astonishment and betrayal, like Lance had just personally signed his death certificate.

Maybe he had.

“Lance!”

“Okay, I know it sounds bad. And I was ready to throw him out too, but he claims he’s a part of the Blade.” Lance said, moving to stand between Keith and the business end of Pidge’s blaster.

 _That_ got their attention.

“I thought the Blade was just a story.” Hunk leaned around Lance to study Keith again, as if just by looking at him he might unlock all the secrets. Lance understood the feeling. He had felt like doing the same thing, but his instinct to take care of the injured kicked in before he could entertain the thought for too long.

“And you believed him? Just like that? A _Galra_?” Pidge was not so understanding.

“He’s technically only _half-_ Galra.” He turned to Keith. “Show them your knife.”

Keith didn’t look like he had any idea what was going on, but he pulled the dagger from its sheath. Lance could see the hesitation in his eyes, but after a moment he handed the blade over. Thank God, he had some sense.

Taking the weapon gingerly, Lance turned it over to show off the faintly glowing, purple symbol etched into the metal. Pidge and Hunk both leaned in for a closer look. Lance could see the exact moment Pidge’s apprehension gave way to her innate curiosity. Holstering her blaster, she reached for the blade.

“This is amazing. It’s so light weight. And I’ve never seen a weapon made of a material quite like this.” She turned to Keith. “How does it glow?”

He blinked wide, purple eyes back at her. “I…don’t really know.”

“Can you actually fight with this?”

A battle waged behind his eyes as he searched for an answer. His gaze traveled to Lance, and back to Pidge.

“It actually works better when it’s unlocked.” Keith held out a hand, not grabbing for the knife, though Lance was fairly certain there was nothing more that he wanted to do in that moment.

Pidge handed it back, though she watched him through squinted eyes.

Keith held the knife in front of him, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. They watched, transfixed as he ran his freehand along the face of the blade and it transformed before their eyes into a full-length saber.

“Did you know he could do that?” Hunk asked.

Lance shook his head. “Definitely not.”

Pidge leapt forward, eyes comically wide. “How did you do that?”

Keith leaned away from her awkwardly. “You can only unlock Blade of Marmora weapons with Galra blood.” He answered softly.

And like that, the tension was back.

Pidge backed away from him. Keith slid his weapon back into its sheath, eyes downcast.

“Why are you here?” Hunk asked, suddenly.

Keith looked to Shiro. “We were on a mission, to save some prisoners from a station nearby. The mission had gone on for too long and we were called back.” Keith grit his teeth, as if the story was hard for him to relive. “But I had just found out where they were holding Shiro. I stayed behind to save him. We made it as far as we could in a stolen pod, but it wasn’t meant for long distance travel, and he was hurt. We crashed here.”

Pidge let Keith’s story sink in for just a moment before she motioned out to the hall. Group meeting. _Oh joy._

Hunk led the way out of the room. Lance slunk out behind him. He was in for an earful, at the very least. Pidge was the last to leave the room, double checking that the door slid shut behind her.

“Lance, what the hell were you thinking? A _Galra_?”

“Okay, the blade was cool, but can we really trust him about _The_ Blade? We were always told it was just a story.”

“Not to mention, we’re already on the run. We don’t need another target on our backs.”

“And what do we really know about this ‘Shiro’ person? I mean-”

Lance held up his hands, silencing them both. “I _know_. Okay? I know. I’ve been asking myself these things since I saw them running through the docks. I know it’s stupid. And reckless. And possibly the biggest mistake of my life. But what if he really is with the Blade? Imagine if we could join forces with them! We might actually have a chance.”

That gave them pause. “That’s…a really big ‘if.’” Pidge pointed out.

“I know.”

“He could still be dangerous.”

“We’ll throw them out at the first sign of suspicious activity.” Lance promised.

Pidge threw up her arms in defeat. “I don’t like it. Hunk, your turn.”

Lance turned his best pleading expression to his friend. Hunk always was a softie. Especially out of the two of them; by far the easiest to win over. Hunk covered his eyes with one hand.

“Aw Lance, no! Foul play.”

He dropped the look, if only to make it clear just how serious he was. “I’ve been freaking out since I found out, okay? Every point you can think of, I’ve probably already worried about. But, I don’t know. I have a good feeling about them. At least, better than most.”

Hunk clapped Lance on the shoulder with a sigh. “I’m trusting your judgement. If you really think he’s telling the truth, I’ll support whatever you say happens next.”

They both turned to Pidge. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at them. “Why am I always the odd one out?”

“To be fair, Hunk is usually pretty suspicious of new people too. But we both know he’s a sucker for a sob-story.” Lance said, trying to lighten the air. It didn’t seem to have much of effect. “If it makes you that uncomfortable, I’ll tell ‘em to hit the road. This is your home too.”

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “No. We might as well get all the info we can out of them before doing that.”

Lance pulled her into a hug, squeezing her, even as she squirmed. “There’s my favorite, little hard-ass.”

To emphasize her unhappiness with him, Pidge used her robotic leg to step on his foot. Jumping back with a yelp, he released her. Her light hair stood up in odd directions, looking like a bird with ruffled feathers. “You’re such a pain in the ass.” She turned to Hunk, being careful to keep her distance from Lance now, lest he got the urge to hug her again. “C’mon, we better get started on the repairs.”

 

When Lance went back into the guest dorm, Keith hadn’t moved from where they left him. His dark eyes followed Lance from the moment he entered the room, however. Ignoring the odd feeling that went through him at the intense gaze, Lance gathered a few more things from the table and sat down on his stool once again.

“Let me look at that cut on your leg.”

Keith’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t realized he was injured. Lance tried not to laugh as he rolled closer to clean the wound. He could feel Keith’s gaze on him, even as he worked, but he did his best to ignore it.

“I’m half-human.” Keith said suddenly.

Lance paused in his work to meet his eye. “What?”

Keith scowled. “I’m half-human. You said I was half-Galra.”

“Ooookay, I know I’m not the best with math, but two halves still make a whole, right?”

“I don’t know if I’m half-Galra. I just know I have Galra blood.” Keith tried to explain. The way he skirted around certain things, Lance got the feeling Keith didn’t like to talk about himself, especially when it came to his heritage. “But, my father was human.”

“I’m sorry,” Lance finally said. It made sense, he supposed, if Galra could intermix with other species, it wasn’t any more unlikely that a parent was actually half-Glara, rather than Keith himself.  “I’ll let them know.”

Keith shifted awkwardly in his chair as Lance went back to fixing up his wound. The cut was clean, but deep. He wasn’t sure how Keith had managed to get as far as he did without it bothering him more.

“You don’t have to.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“It’s not as if that will make them trust me anymore, will it?”

Lance turned away for a clean needle. And to avoid Keith’s searching eyes. He didn’t say it as if it hurt him, simply that it was a fact. They knew he was a Galra, and therefore they didn’t trust him. Lance wanted to argue with him, but he wasn’t really wrong. If it hadn’t been for how ready Keith was to sacrifice himself for Shiro, Lance was sure he wouldn’t trust him anymore than Pidge or Hunk. Maybe even less.

“How did you even cut your leg like this?” He asked, quickly changing the subject.

Keith shrugged. “I must’ve got it when I pulled Shiro out of the pod.”

“You’ve been running around on it this whole time?”

He shrugged again.

Lance sat back. Keith squirmed under his gaze but didn’t move away. He really wasn’t sure what the make of this duo. Of Keith. Eventually, he went back to work, if only to stop Keith from squirming anymore.

“Why did you help us?” Keith asked as he finished patching up the wound. “We were just some strangers, I’m sure we’ve been more trouble than we’re worth already.”

“I’ve been in your shoes before. I mean,” Lance leaned back with a sigh. Leaning over patients really did a number on your back, especially when you’ve already been cooped up in a space ship for weeks of travel. “Obviously as a trader, I’m on the run now. But it’s by choice. I don’t _want_ to just lie down and take whatever the Galra deem appropriate or necessary. But I know what it’s like to not have a choice. I’ve seen it all my life.” He shrugged.

“Thank you.” The words sounded awkward, but sincere. “For what you’ve done. Especially for Shiro. He doesn’t deserve what’s happened to him.”

Lance looked back at the unconscious man besides them. The multitude of scars and fresh wounds that Lance had seen cleaning him up rivaled what he had seen working in the makeshift Askides hospital. But his prosthetic was what really worried Lance. The scar tissue around the base was still tender and new, as if it was a new addition. The loss of a limb wasn’t unheard of in war, but even with his limited experience with it, Lance was fairly certain the artificial limb was Galra tech. And if the dark expression Keith wore whenever he looked at it was anything to judge by, Lance had a horrible feeling Shiro had both arms when he went to the prison.

“Do any of us really?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


	3. can you see what isn't there, the truth dressed up in lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this update took so long, I genuinely did not realize how long it had been

_Dear, the kiss that steals your breath_   
_will steal your soul instead._   
_The night is all that's left_   
_so wait, keep your heart inside._   
_My hands won't keep it safe._   
_I'll just feed on dreams, and smile as hope slowly dies_   
_Ooh Daylight's dying_   
_Run, baby, run, baby run_   
_Ooh Full moon rising_   
_Run, baby, run, baby run_

_-Run Baby Run, The Rigs_

* * *

  
It took two days for Pidge and Hunk to get the ship ready enough for a test flight.

“If it’s ready for a test flight, why wouldn’t it be ready for a real flight? You’re just wasting more time.”

Which was also enough time for Lance to discover he and Keith _really_ didn’t get along.

“The point of the test flight is to see if there are any problems that we can’t feel sitting around like this. What works, what doesn’t work, what might not be up to par but will get us where we need to go.” Lance took a deep breath, trying not to start another fight this early in the morning. The last time Pidge had had to separate the two of them she was _not_ happy. If it wasn’t for his promise to behave when he still owed her, though, all bets would be off. “This is an old ship and sometimes it takes a flight to see any deeper problems.”

Keith crossed his arms, still looking for all the world like he didn’t believe him. “Can I do anything?”

Lance nearly dropped the wrench he was holding. “What?”

“To speed this up. Can I do anything?”

“Have you ever worked on a ship before?” He asked incredulously.

Keith nodded.

Lance rocked back on his heels, looking around the room. He was just tightening up panels that had to be loosened as they did repairs. He didn’t think it was really a two-person job. “Hunk is still in the engine room, he’ll know more about what still needs to be done than me.” Lance admitted. With a nod, Keith turned and stalked out of the room. Lance watched him go, still not sure what to make of his mood swings.

Once he was gone, the wall near the door shifted. A moment later, the grey khyjid situated herself beside Lance. He watched in amusement as she made herself comfortable.

“Why do you all hide from him like that?” He asked as he got back to work. The khyjids were by no means a friendly species, but he would never have called them shy. Not until Keith, and Shiro, had come aboard and they all spent a majority of their time camouflaged.  He wasn't sure he had seen all of them, visibly, in one room since their arrival either.

Predictably, Azure didn't answer, only blinked up at him slowly. Worrying his bottom lip, he held out his free hand to her. Happily taking the invitation, she nuzzled his hand. “Are you trying to tell me something? Can you girls sense something I don't?” Her warm tongue slipped out to lick at the tips of his fingers as if he might have the remnants of a treat there for her. Comforting, but not much of an answer to his dilemma.

Pushing his worries aside as much as possible, he got back to work. Honestly, he was anxious to get off Yestru as soon as possible. Not only because they were harboring wanted fugitives, but to actually deliver their payload. Long missions always put him on edge. There was too much room for error.

Lost in his worries, Lance didn’t realize he had finished his work until Pidge was standing before him, tapping her foot impatiently.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you done or did that panel need to be _extra_ tightened?”

Part of the paint had peeled off from his continued abuse of the bolt holding it in place. Oops.

“Just making sure everything’s secure, boss.”

“C’mon.”

Pushing off on his knees, he got to his feet and followed her out, Azure at his heels. Pidge had pinned up her hair with a handful of colorful clips that left it sprouting from her head in a variety of directions. She had been complaining for ages that her hair was getting too long for work, but Lance had a suspicion that she liked how long it had grown. She had lost so much in the accident, it had taken her this long to get it to brush just past her shoulders.

Hunk and Keith were waiting for them in the bridge. Hunk was scrubbing an oil smear across his cheek when they arrived. He had shed his outer jacket and rolled up his sleeves to reveal a new bandage wrapped around his bicep. Keith stood off to the side, trying to appear as small as possible in the crowded area. Blood had stained part of the bandage on his leg, meaning he had somehow opened his stitches. Again.

“What in the world did the two of you do?” Lance demanded, looking between the two injuries.

Hunk rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Ah it was my fault. I was trying to move some parts and dropped it when it nicked my arm. Keith tried to catch it.”

“With his _thigh_?”

“I moved too fast and ripped a couple of the stitches. It’s fine.” Keith explained with a shrug.

Lance opened his mouth to scold him, but Pidge held up a hand and silenced him. “I’d like to get this show on the road, thank you. If the test flight goes alright, I’d like to leave when we’re done so is there anything else that needs to be taken care of before we leave?”

Lance and Hunk exchanged a look, considering.

“Uh, we probably need more food.” Hunk finally admitted. “When Lance took inventory we weren’t expecting another per-er, two more people to be with us. For however long they are.”

All eyes went to Keith at the reminder. His pale skin flushed and he avoided their gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Hunk had a good point. They weren’t sure how long Keith and Shiro would be tagging along with them. And they would definitely stick out. Keith looked human enough, but his all black and purple body armor didn’t exactly blend in. And Shiro was without a shirt after Lance had to cut it away, not that it was salvageable in its stained-state anyways.

“They probably need clothes too.”

It took three pairs of eyes turning to him that Lance realized he had spoken aloud.

“We’re fine.” Keith insisted.

Hunk made a sound of disagreement. “Well, actually, he kind of has a point…”

Pidge squinted at him from across the room. It was little more than a look, but it was easy to tell just what she meant with it. _She didn’t want to spend extra money on them. She still didn’t trust them._

_He could pay for it, technically. And they needed to blend in anywhere, not just on Yestru. And he didn’t quite trust them yet either, but what were they supposed to do?_

_They didn’t need any more problems._

_Teaming up with the Blade of Marmora could turn the war around._

_That’s supposed to be a myth. Were they really going to believe he was a part of it?_

_Well, true. But it wasn’t like he had said he was a part of_ Voltron _or something. And the symbol! She had to admit it was the same._

Hunk cleared his throat, when he finally got tired of watching the two of them make faces at each other across the room. “Are you two gonna let the rest of us in on this anytime soon or should we leave you be?”

Pidge sighed. “How do you want to do this?”

“Hunk and I could go shopping while you fly.” Lance suggested. “You know enough about the ship to notice if anything’s off.” Lance saw her eyes flash to Keith and then back to him. “And if he tries anything, the khyjids can eat him.”

Keith bristled at the insinuation, but didn’t say anything against it.

“So, that’s the plan?” Hunk asked. Grudgingly, Pidge nodded. “Alright, I’ll go get ready.”

 

“Uh, Keith. May I see your hand?” Hunk asked before they left.

Dark eyes watched him warily, but Keith offered his hand anyways. It was hard not to do what Hunk asked of you. Lance was familiar with the phenomenon.

Closing his eyes, Hunk focused on the man in front of him. His image blurred, but for the most part he appeared normal. Unless one looked directly at him, in which case his image warped. A moment later, he snapped back to clarity; looking as if Keith was suddenly drowning in Hunk’s clothing.

Keith gaped at him.

Lance grinned. Reactions to Hunk’s transformations were always amusing. “Oh? You didn’t know he was an Ors?”

Ors, a race known for their ability to blend in with any species or race it came across, were often considered rare, because no one was sure how many really existed in the universe today. Mainly, because if an ors didn’t want you to know what they were, there was no reason to.

It took a moment for Keith to tear his attention away from Hunk. “Uh no, no I did. But I’ve never seen a transformation.”

The Hunk-Keith made a puzzled expression. “You knew? What gave me away?”

Keith flushed. “Your smell. I knew it wasn’t human.”

“Hey! Hunk doesn’t smell.” Lance jumped to his defense before Keith’s meaning sunk in. “Wait, you can tell when someone isn’t human?”

Keith nodded. “It’s usually just subtle differences, but they’re there. I figured it out not long after I boarded, though it was a little more difficult than usual.”

Lance’s brow furrowed. Beside him, Hunk changed back to himself. “What do you mean?”

“This ship is a mess of different species.” Keith answered. “It’s obvious you…all have been connected for a long time. Things begun to blur together.”

“Alright, I should have all the measurements I need.” Hunk interjected. “Ready to go?”

Part of Lance wanted to stay and learn more about how Keith could tell apart different races by scent alone and exactly _what_ his ship _smelled_ like, but he knew there were more pressing matters for the moment. He offered a smile and wave of his hand. “Lead the way.”

Just before the door closed behind them, Lance turned back around. “Pidge is more than capable of taking care of herself, but if you really are planning to betray us and try to lay a single hand on her, Meadow will not hesitate to tear you to shreds. Tread carefully.”

He left them with a dazzling smile.

Hunk watched him from the platform, shaking his head. “Was that really necessary?”

“Just making a point.”

“I thought you wanted us to trust him.”

“I do. I don’t want us to be stupid about it, though. I know he hasn’t really given us good reason to trust or distrust him, but until we can be sure…” Lance let his meaning trail off. Hunk had known him long enough to know what he was getting at.

 

The Hara shopping district was one of Lance’s favorite places to visit, when he could. One could find just about anything within the sprawling stalls, if they knew how to look. And even though most things were outrageously priced, Lance liked to think he was an expert haggler by now.

Working in tandem with Hunk felt like second nature by this point in their relationship and it was easy to split up responsibilities and part ways with an agreement of when and where to meet up in order to be ready for Pidge’s arrival. So, Hunk, armed with measurements for Keith and Shiro went towards the clothing district. Lance, armed with Hunk’s shopping list, went for food.

The twisting dirt roads of Yestru were designed to keep those who didn’t know better out of the thick of things. Within their shopping district the paths were a maze of dead-ends and misdirections that hid the best wares for the best prices. As well as the illegal goods traders like Lance, Hunk, and Pidge so often came to the desert planet for.

Slipping through a row of bushes, Lance was greeted with a colorful array of fruits and vegetables from across the galaxy. Hunk’s favorite place to shop. Lance really did feel bad that Hunk was the one sent for clothing, but if they wanted to get off of Yestru today, he couldn’t be trusted around so many different food stalls.

All things considered, the trip went swimmingly, until he came upon a familiar face. Half way through his list, Lance was chattering away at a stall when he noticed a wanted poster hung on the stall posts. The details were a little off, hair cut differently, glasses frame shape wrong-but undeniable to anyone who knew her: Pidge.

The Yestruhiri merchant noticed his lapse of attention and followed his gaze to the sign. “You know something about that?”

His throat felt dry. “N-No. What is she wanted for?”

The merchant shrugged one shoulder. “Some Thravi apparently came in raving about humans stirring up trouble with the Galra.” She leaned in, offering a conspiratorial whisper. “Personally, I think he was just desperate for attention now that most everyone knows better than to try and trade through Thravis. What did they ever expect rolling over and taking it from the Galra like a cheap-”

“Sorry, you mentioned something about a delicacy?” Lance interrupted, praying she wasn’t so invested in the drama that she took his topic change as an insult.

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before, thankfully, proving to be more interested in a sale than Thravi problems. “Now like I was saying about broccoli,”

Lance let her voice fade to the background as he fussed, trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. Trying not to panic. Mostly failing.

Pidge should be safe for now, in the air, but if the dockmaster got wind of this, there was no way he wouldn’t catch on. They might not have been his favorite people, but Goso definitely knew them all well enough to recognize Pidge from the picture. Not to mention, if it was revealed that the Thravi were after them, _a_ nd they were harboring fugitives from the Yestruhiri authorities, they’d all be dead before nightfall.

Lance made it out of there with what he came for, and only three extra stalks of broccoli, and a promise to come back for more if he liked this “new delicacy.” At another time, he might have dwelled on the interaction, wondering if the merchant genuinely liked the broccoli she had discovered or if she quickly discovered its lack of popularity and was desperate to get rid of it all. But now, he had greater worries.

If the merchant was right and a Thravi, Koszik most likely, was the one that put out a warrant for Pidge posters of him and Hunk were surely nearby. Hunk would be alright. If he caught wind of what was going on, he could blend in in a moment to avoid detection.

Lance, on the other hand…

Pulling his jacket tighter around himself, Lance started towards the exit. He really should have started wearing something over his face like Pidge and Hunk suggested.

Someone grabbed his arm.

He pulled his blaster before he could think better of it, whirling around on whoever was there. Baldur’s pale eyes blinked back at him from around the barrel.

“Sorry,” Lance said with a grimace, clicking the safety back on.

Baldur shook his head, pulling him closer. “Have you seen the posters?”

_Shit._

“Just one for my crewmate. There are more?”

“Everywhere.”

Lance swore again. “What should we do?”

Baldur looked around, over Lance’s head. “You need to get back to your ship. You need to get out of here as soon as you can.” He whispered.

“Hunk is still shopping. I don’t know if he knows yet.”

“He does. I am sure of it. Come.” With a sharp tug, Baldur all but dragged Lance down the road. “Where is your rendezvous point?”

“The springs.”

A freshwater spring near the center of upper town was their favored meeting place on Yestru. Well populated, it was easy to blend in with the chaos, for more discreet business to be done under the guise of bumping into passersbys in the crowd. Now, Lance was second-guessing that choice.

If Baldur thought it was a bad idea as well, he didn’t let on. Simply nodded his understanding and pushed forward. “Follow my lead.” He whispered.

Before Lance could ask what he meant, Baldur pulled him in front of him, snapping orders at him in the gravely Yestruhiri language. A large, clawed hand wrapped around both of Lance’s wrists, leaving him defenseless. Startled, Lance let him manhandle him through the shopping district. When Baldur yelled again, the words clicked.

_Move. Faster. You’re not getting away this time._

Baldur was a well-known, high-ranking officer. No one would look twice at him escorting someone out of the shopping district. Lance did his best to listen to that logical side of his brain. No one would challenge Baldur for a right to turn him in, even for a ransom. And Baldur liked him. He wouldn’t actually be arresting Lance and turning him over to the Thravi.

Unless he was _really_ mad about Lance never calling.

Lance kept his head low, moving solemnly as they reached the springs. The air was thick with heat and the crowd seemed especially large today. Especially restless. He could feel eyes traveling over him as they cut through the swarms. How many recognized his face? Did they know there was a warrant out for him? Was Hunk there already? Was he safe?

A Yestruhiri approached them but Baldur sent them away with little more than a harsh growl.

“Do you see your friend?” He asked in a whisper when he had a chance.

Lance risked a look around. Just as he started to shake his head no, he spotted him. A Yestruhiri on the outskirts of the crowd. If it wasn’t for his obviously human t-shirt and vest instead of the lose-fitting robes most Yestruhiri civilians wore, Lance likely never would have spotted him. He gestured as best he could. “There.”

They headed towards Hunk. Lance watched his face, hoping to get his attention without drawing it from anyone else around. When Hunk eventually spotted him, his expression immediately turned to one of concern, then anger, and then, finally, he recognized the Yestruhiri escorting Lance towards him.

“ _Come with me._ ” Baldur demanded of Hunk in Yestruhiri. His hand wrapping around Hunk’s arm left him little choice in the matter.

Barking orders to them both, Baldur pushed them towards the docks. Lance could see the drop to the lower town in the horizon when their plan fell to pieces.

“Baldur!” Someone called. “ _What have you got there_?”

“ _I found them causing trouble in Hara.”_

The female soldier laughed. “ _Going to teach them a little lesson? Dangle them over the caverns to make a point?”_

Baldur replied with a toothy smile. “ _Something like that.”_

She seemed content to accept that answer, until her eyes found Lance. He watched the recognition dawn on her. The moment her hand twitched towards her holster, Lance wrestled himself out of Baldur’s grip. Pulling out his blaster, he shot her down, the sound of the blast echoing around the empty space.

Hunk and Baldur both gaped at him. “It’s on stun.” He defended. “And she recognized me.”

There was shouting in the distance.

“That shot alerted someone. We’re going to have company.” Baldur warned.

Hunk transformed back into himself, readjusting his package once settled. Holding a different form took energy he couldn’t afford wasting now.

“We need to go.” Hunk urged Lance, eyes trained on something behind Baldur’s back. Lance followed his gaze. Soldiers.

Baldur didn’t even look to see what was there. “Shoot me.”

Lance balked. “What?”

“It is on stun, correct? Shoot me and run. They will stop to check on us. It will give you two enough time to get to the docks.”

Lance held up his blaster. Pidge might not even be back yet. They might not have a ship to get back to. But if she was there, and Baldur was wrong, they would be leading these soldiers straight to them. To Pidge. To Keith and Shiro. To the khyjids and medicine Askides so desperately needed. Pidge could get it there herself. She would take care of the khyjids. She could-

“Lance, now!”

When Lance still didn’t act, Hunk did. Ripping the blaster from his grip, Hunk fired at Baldur. He had his hand around Lance’s wrist, tugging him down the road before their ally hit the ground.

* * *

  
“What?”

Keith startled as the girl, Pidge, snapped at him from the pilot’s chair.

“What?” He echoed dumbly.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Why are you staring at me?”

Keith grimaced. Right. That was bad. How many times did Shiro have to remind him of that? “Sorry.” He mumbled, making a point to look away. “I wasn’t thinking.”

She huffed irritably, but he could see her visibly relax. Oops.

They let silence settle in the cabin once again, the soft purr of machinery and the steady beeping of scanners searching for obstacles in their way the only noise. The space before them sprawled endlessly. Periodically, Pidge checked for something else on the ship, either by pulling a new lever or pushing a button and waiting for a change in how the ship flew, or pulling something up on a scanner and watching for a response. It was a lot for one person to do, on top of flying, but Keith wasn’t sure she would accept any offer of help.

On her latest check, everything seemed to be fine until a loud, grinding noise shuddered through the ship and earned a grimace from them both.

“Shit.” Pidge swore. Frantically she moved things around, searching for the source of the noise. When it came again, the mossy green khyjid, Meadow he believed was its name, that had been perched on the control panel besides her leapt down with a hiss.

“What was that?”

A tic started in her jaw. “One of our thrusters giving out. Damnit. We _just_ fixed that one.”

“Is it something I could help with?”

She turned to stare at him as if she couldn’t imagine why he was asking. “Uh, no. We don’t have the parts for it. This ship is so damn old they’re not easy to locate.”

“Ah.”

They both looked away.

Adjusting their course once again, Pidge headed back towards the surface of the planet. She hadn’t seemed eager to take on this responsibility when Lance suggested it, but flying the ship seemed like second nature to her as she piloted them around the hazardous atmosphere.

Keith was so enthralled watching as she worked, forgetting once again that he shouldn’t be openly staring, it wasn’t until the khyjid growled that he realized they were no longer alone.

“Keith? What is going on?”

Whirling around, Keith and Pidge found Shiro leaning heavily against the entrance way of the bridge.

Keith shot to his feet, moving across the room to his brother in record time. The khyjid growled in warning, but he paid it no mind.

Shiro let Keith fuss over his wounds for a moment before he placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and forced him to focus.

“What is going on?” He repeated.

“Um, we’re on a test flight?”

Shiro made a face. Nice to know his sense of humor was still intact.

“Keith.”

“Well it’s true.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

Moving to the side, Keith gestured to Pidge where she still sat in the pilot’s chair, watching them. “Pidge.”

Distracted by Shiro, and the fact that he was apparently well enough to be awake and moving around, Keith hadn’t even thought to pay any attention to Pidge’s reaction to him awakening. So, her whispered “Takashi?” startled them both.

Keith stared. Nothing she had done up until this point had suggested she recognized either of them, so how in the world did she know his brother’s real name?

“Katie?”

 _Shiro_ knew _her_ , too?

The ship veered suddenly to the side, nearly knocking Keith and Shiro off their feet. With a curse, Pidge turned back to the console. While she was distracted, Keith searched his brother’s ragged face for an explanation. He offered nothing of the sort.

“Katie?” He mouthed silently.

Shiro’s mouth opened and closed a few times, apparently unsure of how to answer. Before he got the chance to figure it out, Pidge turned back around.

“Is that really you?” She asked. Her voice was oddly cool, but there was a new expression hidden behind her glasses Keith didn’t recognize. Something softer than her normal look. “I didn’t recognize you with the hair, and the beard…and the scar. But your voice hasn’t changed in all these years.”

Shiro quirked an awkward smile. “You look just like Matt.”

 _Matt_? Why was it the more they spoke the less their conversation made sense?

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Every girl’s dream. To look just like their dork-brother.”

Keith searched his memories for _anything_ that might make this conversation make some semblance of sense. Had he somehow wandered into an alternate reality? Oh, He hoped not. Slav would have a field day.

With Keith’s help, Shiro made it further into the bridge. Keith settled him into the engineer’s chair. Shiro thanked him, but it was obvious his attention was focused more on the reunion.

“How is he?” Shiro asked.

Pidge handled the yoke absentmindedly, turned away from them. She was quiet just long enough for Keith to start getting worried.

“Katie-”

“I don’t know.” She admitted loudly, cutting Shiro off. “We were separated a few years ago. I’ve been searching for him but,” she trailed off with a shrug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Takashi.”

Keith could tell by his strained expression that Shiro wanted to press that issue further, but restrained himself. In a lowered voice, Keith did his best to fill Shiro in on what had happened since he passed out, including who they were traveling with.

“We’re on a trader’s ship?” Shiro asked in astonishment, but if his outburst bothered Pidge, she didn’t turn to acknowledge them.

“Yes, they’re on the run from the Galra. They’re a part of some kind of rebel group.”

“And…?”

Keith knew what he was asking about, without elaboration, unfortunately. _Him._ “They know.”

“And they still allowed us aboard?”

“They knew about the Blade. Kind of.”

“Hey,” Pidge interjected. “We’re beginning descent. Buckle up.”

Keith jumped to the other open chair as the ship began to rock. Pidge muttered something about manual landings.

“Flown manual before?” She asked suddenly.

“ ‘s how I learned.” Keith assured her.

She nodded to the second yoke before him. That he was surprised she was trusting him with such a responsibility was an understatement, still, he took hold of the old, worn control as if it was precious, hunkering down for her instructions.

He wouldn’t call their descent smooth. But, blessedly, they made it to the docks in one piece. Shiro looked a little unsettled once they were parked, realizing then just how outdated the ship really was, perhaps. Keith, on the other hand, felt nearly giddy. It was a simple maneuver all things considered, but it had been so long since he had flown anything like this. So long since he had worked in tandem with anything other than artificial intelligence. He had forgotten how rewarding of a feeling it was.

Pidge exchanged a small smile with him, nodding her thanks.

Extracting herself from the odd position she had curled into in the pilot’s chair, Pidge got to her feet and stretched. In the silence of the settling ship, Keith could hear the quiet grind of gears as she moved.

Her penchant for baggy clothing left Keith unsure of just how much of her body was replaced with machinery, but she was missing a full limb and at least half of another. As she made her way around the chair, Keith could see the moment Shiro came to the same realization. Their attention flittered to Shiro’s new arm with the reminder. Keith had a million questions about the arm. What it did, why he had it, if Shiro knew about it or if it was so new he was just waking up to it, was it dangerous?

Suddenly, Pidge threw herself into Shiro’s arms. Pain flashed across his face as he cradled her against him, though he was taking the sudden embrace in stride.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” She whispered. Keith had a feeling he wasn’t supposed to be witness to this moment and turned away.

Shiro would explain everything, eventually.

Outside the window, the docks were calm. A few people were moving goods from a newly arrived ship while others wandered down in search of their rides, weighed down with new packages. All in all, however, it was calm.

Until, of course, two familiar faces came into their line of sight.

Lance and Hunk ran down the path towards them at full speed. Hunk looked pale, glancing behind them as they ran. Lance was shouting something to them, but so far away Keith had no idea what it was supposed to be.

“Uh, Pidge?”

Lance knocked an unfortunate couple to the side but their complaints died in their throats when their eyes fell to Hunk, running just a moment behind, blaster in hand.

“What did those idiots do now?” She cursed.

Keith heard more than saw her slam a hand to a button. The door to the ship slid open a moment later. Relief flashed across their faces. Renewed vigor sped them up. With the open door, the sounds of shouting gradually made it to them inside.

Expression darkening, Pidge started up the ship again.

“What are we doing?” Keith asked, looking between her and the two charging towards them.

“I have no idea what happened, but Lance was telling me to get ready for take-off.”

“I thought the ship wouldn’t go without the thruster.”

“It’s not totally lost yet. We can at least get off Yestru.” The edges of a mob appeared over the horizon. Dozens of Yestru soldiers, headed straight for them. Pidge grimaced. “I’d rather take my chances in space, how about you?”

“What can I do?”

She nodded to a screen before him. “Make sure everything is powered up.”

A moment later the sound of feet thundered up the entrance.

“Go, go, _go_!” Lance shouted before he was even fully into the ship. Hunk followed a moment later with the same sentiment.

Without warning, Pidge shot them into the sky. Hunk scrambled to shut the door as they ascended.

“What the hell is going on?” She demanded, not tearing her eyes from the windshield as they soared higher. “We are not in _any_ shape for another ‘getaway’!”

“Our faces were plastered across Hara! Koszik put out a ransom!” Lance gasped from the floor.

“ _What_?”

“And we may have shot two soldiers.” Hunk added.

“Galra?” Keith asked, worried. They definitely couldn’t outrun a Galra fleet if it was after them now.

“Uh, no.”

With a growl, Pidge punched them forward.

In the scanners, Keith watched Yestru grow smaller. Anxiously, he waited for the shocks of light that represented other ships in pursuit to appear.


	4. we scream and shout 'till we work it out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to the few of you following this story who had to wait so long for an update, between the semester starting back in the fall and the holidays and other writing projects I had going on, this story kind of took a back burner. I'm still really attached to the idea though, so here we are again.
> 
> This chapter originally felt awkwardly short because I didn't quite know where I wanted it to end, and now its the longest to date so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

 

 

_Afterlife, I think I saw what happens next_  
_It was just a glimpse of you_  
_Like looking through a window o_ _r a shallow sea_  
_Could you see me?_  
_And after all this time_  
_It's like nothing else we used to know_  
_After all the hangers-on are done_  
_Hanging on to the dead lights_  
_Of the afterglow_

_I've gotta know_

 

 

_Can we work it out?_

 

_-Afterlife, Arcade Fire_

* * *

 

“So, you must be Lance.” Shiro broke the tense silence of the ship.

They had been in flight for nearly an hour without a pursuit. Keith wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing, but, for the moment, it gave them a chance to breathe.

Lance looked startled for a moment, as if he hadn’t realized Shiro was there. “U-Uh yeah, that’s me. Lance. Trader Extraordinaire.” He recovered quickly.

“Don’t forget, ‘The Tailor.’” Pidge chimed in sarcastically.

Shiro looked across the bridge to Keith, for an explanation. He shrugged. He definitely hadn’t heard that term while he was on the ship.

“I’m Hunk.” Leaning around Lance, Hunk offered a hand to Shiro. Shiro took it with a smile. “And I guess you’ve already met Pidge?”

Keith watched Shiro’s gaze move from Hunk to Pidge, where she was still perched in the pilot’s chair. His brow furrowed. Right. Shiro had called her something else. _Katie?_ Besides Keith, Pidge gave no indication she was listening, though he knew there was no way she couldn’t hear them.

“Um, yes.” Shiro turned back around. “Thank you all, for taking us in. I know how much of a risk that was for you.”

No one seemed to want to acknowledge just how much of a risk.

Lance got to his feet was a small grunt, stretching as he moved. Keith quickly looked away when he was caught watching.

“How about I take a look at those injuries and we get you cleaned up? Hunk got some new clothes for you and Keith. To help you blend in. And because we kind of had to destroy yours.”

Shiro smiled gratefully. “Thank you. We’ll pay you back, as soon as we can.”

Lance laughed awkwardly. “Don’t worry about it right now. Just follow me.”

Shiro gingerly unbuckled himself from the chair he had been strapped to and got to his feet. Lance made a strange, strangled expression, before schooling it back to something normal and leading Shiro away from the bridge.

Hunk rummaged through the packages they had brought aboard. Finding whatever it was he was looking for, he extracted two paper-wrapped parcels.

“The one on top is for you, the other for Shiro.” He said, handing them to Keith. “Might as well go change while we have the time.”

Right.

Keith glanced to the scanners again. Still blissfully, strangely empty.

He probably should go change.

Sensing his hesitation, Pidge waved him away. “Go. Even if something happens, Hunk and I can manage for the few minutes it’ll take you all.”

Keith nodded. “I’ll…go do that then. Thank you.”

 

Headed towards the dormitories, Keith could hear the muffled voices of Lance and Shiro. At first, it was obviously just a typical check-up; Lance changing bandages, asking Shiro how certain injuries felt. Nothing he hadn’t had to go through a million times before. At least Shiro was awake for this latest one.

As Keith got closer, however, he heard the subject change.

“Keith tells me you’re a part of a rebel organization?”

Silence stretched until he thought Lance was simply going to ignore Shiro.

“What other option is there? Roll over and take it?” He finally replied.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Patching up injured fugitives?” Lance joked.

“Trading.” Shiro was unfazed by Lance’s attempts to change the subject. Years of dancing around Keith’s attempts at misdirection for real answers could do that.

Keith had to admit, however, that he wondered that himself. Two days wasn’t a lot of time to learn about someone, but Shiro was already on his way to getting more information than Keith had, and he had only been conscious for a little over an hour.

Keith inched himself closer to the room, staying close to the wall. He wasn’t sure why he was worried about being seen, but something told him Lance would stop talking if he knew Keith was listening.

“I left Earth at seventeen.” Lance finally answered with a sigh. “Me, Hunk, and Pidge.”

Earth. Where Shiro was from. Where his father was from. A place Keith had never been. Only heard stories of, in passing. Like it hurt them to talk about it. Maybe it did. Lance certainly wasn’t enthused by the notion of reminiscing on his past.

“You’ve been together a long time then?”

“Feels like I’ve known them my whole life, honestly.”

“I’m sorry, my years are a little-”

“It was seven years after the attack.” Lance answered easily.

The Galra attack on Earth. The one that thrust that part of the universe into the steadily spreading war. The one that brought Shiro to the Blade of Marmora. What was it like, he wondered, ten years old, watching the world you knew crumbling around you? Keith had been the same age at the time of the attack, but he only knew of it because of his father searching for information about Shiro, desperate to know he was okay when reports came flooding in of the Galra reaching even further than they had anticipated.

“Some rebels picked us up just outside of the Pochoth cluster. We were in bad shape at the time and they’re probably are the only reason we survived. As thanks, we joined the cause.” Lance rambled through the explanation as if desperate for the words to be out of his mouth and the conversation over.

“Just as thanks?” Shiro asked softly.

Silence stretched again. Finally, Lance let out a shuddering sigh. “No.”

The sound of a stool being moved across the room came suddenly. “Well you’re all set.” Lance said. More shuffling came as he moved around the room. “Through that door’s a bathroom, there should be anything you need along the mirror if you’d like a shower or a shave or anything like that.”

“Thank you, Lance.”

Lance made a quiet noise of acknowledgement.

Keith scrambled away from the door as footsteps approached. The last thing he needed was for Lance to find him crouched in the hallway.

The door slid open just as Keith straightened up. Lance didn’t even glance at him as he headed back towards the bridge. He did, however, brush close enough to knock his shoulder against Keith’s own as he passed.

“Didn’t anyone teach you eavesdropping is rude, Mullet?”

Inside the room, Shiro was none the wiser to Keith and Lance’s brief interaction. When Keith joined him inside, he was still sitting on the short bed, looking over his prosthetic.

“Does it hurt?” Keith asked, dropping the packages down beside him.

He opened and closed his metal fist a few times before he shook his head. “No. It doesn’t feel very different at all. Except that I can’t feel with it. That’s strange.”

“That’s what’s strange about it to you? That you can’t feel with it? Not that you woke up strapped to a table with a metal arm when you had two flesh ones before getting captured by the Galra?”

Shiro was quiet for a moment, not meeting Keith’s harsh gaze. Finally, he sighed. “I’d already had it a few weeks by the time the Blade arrived. The…initial shock has started to fade by now.”

Keith grimaced, trying to reel in the flash of anger he felt at Shiro’s words. If only they had been faster. “Here are your clothes. Hunk picked them out.” He said, handing Shiro the bottom parcel.

Shiro took them with a quiet thanks. He paused outside the door. It was only from knowing his brother as well as he did that he realized Shiro wanted to say something, but didn't know how.

“What?”

Shiro’s eyes widened but a moment later he shook it off with a silent laugh. “They seem like really good people.”

_“Why did you help us?” he asked as Lance finished patching up the wound. Unfortunately, he did not share Shiro’s belief in everyone’s inherent goodness. “We were just some strangers, I’m sure we’ve been more trouble than we’re worth already.”_

_“I’ve been in your shoes before. I mean,” Lance leaned back with a sigh. He winced as he rolled his shoulders but didn’t say anything of it. “Obviously as a trader, I’m on the run now. But it’s by choice. I don’t want to just lie down and take whatever the Galra deem appropriate or necessary. But I know what it’s like to not have a choice. I’ve seen it all my life.” He shrugged._

_“Thank you.” The words felt awkward in his mouth, but he hoped Lance could tell they were sincere. “For what you’ve done. Especially for Shiro. He doesn’t deserve what’s happened to him.”_

_Lance looked back to Shiro where he still laid unconscious. Keith wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the expression that came over Lance’s face, but he recognized a kind of sympathy._

_“Do any of us really?”_

Keith shook off the memory, but nodded. “I think they are.”

Shiro smiled at him, no doubt interpreting this as some kind of development Keith didn’t want to dwell on. “Good.” Shiro nodded to the door. “Well I’ll go ‘freshen up’ now. I don’t really think the beard’s for me.”

Keith grimaced. It certainly was a strange look for his normally short-haired, clean shaven brother to sport. “Cut your hair too.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The bathroom door slid shut behind Shiro but Keith waited until he heard the running water before starting to change. Lance had patched up his leg well enough, but Keith hadn't mentioned the bruises decorating his same side. He doubted Lance would care about that little oversight, but the last thing he needed was Shiro popping back in without warning and realizing how injured Keith still was. He had enough to worry about.

He was pulling the shirt over his head when he heard a shout from the bathroom. He barely tugged it all the way down before grabbing his knife and rushing towards the room. When the door opened, Shiro was standing against the wall with half a shaved jaw and a small, bleeding cut near his chin. A black khyjid sat next to the sink. It sat perfectly still as it watched Shiro, but the end of its tail thumped rhythmically against the floor.

Shiro glanced at him, but didn’t move. “Uh Keith, what is this?”

“Um, a khyjid? There was one in the bridge too, remember?”

“I guess, but I thought it was smaller?” Shiro looked between him and the khyjid. “And how did this one get in _here_?”

Keith was as stumped about that as Shiro. “I’m not totally sure. They just kind of pop up around. They live on the ship.”

“How many are there?”

Keith shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea…Lance says they ‘won’t hurt you as long as they don’t deem you a threat,’ though.”

Shiro relaxed slightly. “How do I show it I’m not a threat?”

Keith grimed. “I have no idea. I’m pretty sure they don’t like me.”

Shiro’s head dropped, but he seemed more amused than Keith would have expected, considering the situation. Until the khyjid got to its feet and crossed the bathroom to sniff Shiro’s leg. They both froze, expecting the worst, as the creature nosed against his pant leg, but after a few minutes it walked away from Shiro as well. Gently bumping against Keith’s side as it passed through the doorway, the khyjid was gone from the room as if it had never been there at all.

Shiro was the first to finally react. His shoulders dropped and after a second, he started laughing. Keith gaped at him. Was something _wrong_ with him? Should he get Lance?

“What did you call that thing again?” Shiro asked suddenly.

Keith squinted at him, but his laughing fit seemed to be over. “…A khyjid.”

Shiro reached over, using his human hand to pat Keith on the shoulder. “If we ever make it back to the Blade, they are not going to believe this.”

“Wait, have you heard of khyjids before? You know what they are?”

Rather than answer, Shiro turned Keith around, pushing him back out the door. “I’d like to finish in here. Just the idea of a shower and a shave makes me feel more human than I have in a while. We can talk after.”

Keith turned back around to argue, but the door to the bathroom was already sliding shut.

* * *

“So, what’s the situation?” Lance asked, draping his arm over the back of the pilot’s chair and looking over the scanners as Pidge flew the ship.

“W-What situation?” She asked, nearly jumping out of her seat when she heard him.

Lance looked back at the engineer’s chair in confusion, but Hunk only shrugged.

“The situation with the ship,” Lance turned back to look at her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” She turned back to the controls. Tapping a few buttons, she pulls up a screen documenting what they had discovered on the test flight. “Everything seemed to be okay, until the thruster went out.”

“Again?” Lance groaned, rubbing his temple. They didn't have the time, resources, or funds to keep fixing the same problem, and parts were getting more and more sparse for such an old ship. He waved Hunk over. “Is there anything you can do with what we've got to keep us going?”

Hunk leaned over him to look at the screen, but even from such an awkward angle, Lance could see his sour expression.

“I can try, but even at my best I don't think I could keep us going for long. We need to find a place to land.” Hunk admitted.

Lance grabbed him, pressing an exaggerated kiss to his cheek. “We'd be dead in the water without you, big guy. Thank you.”

Hunk rolled his eyes, waving Lance off.

As Hunk left to salvage what he could, Lance turned back to Pidge. “And you,” He said dramatically. “Without you and your speedy getaway skills, me and Hunk would've been dead on Yestru-”

“Keep your hands and kisses to yourself, McClain.”

Lance chuckled. There was the Pidge he knew and loved. “Do you want me to take over?”

Pidge was quiet, but he could see her thinking something over. Her head turned towards the still silent scanner. Nothing in pursuit. Finally, she turned around to face him, wearing a strange, grave expression. “I think we should make a jump.”

There was no way he heard that right. “To what? We won't be close enough to make a jump anywhere near the Askidian Galaxy for days still, and Yestru was usually our last swap moon We’d be going blind into who-knows-where.”

“I know but,” Pidge took off her glasses, cleaning off the lenses and replacing them, only to repeat the motion a few more times. “But doesn't it seem weird that they're not chasing us? Wanted fugitives with a bounty on our heads who shot two soldiers? There should be at least one ship trying to shoot us down or make us surrender or _something_! There's got to be a reason they didn't follow us, and I don't want to be out here long enough to know what that reason is.”

Lance hated that she was right.

When he didn't have an argument, she pushed on. “And we need parts. Hunk’s saved our asses in truly astonishing circumstances, but he can't pull new parts out of thin air and we'd run out of food or air before we could somehow coast to Askides. We have to make a jump.”

Lance ran a hand over his face. This was a horrible idea, but it wasn't the first time they had gone hurtling headfirst into the unknown, and hey, they made it this far. Right?

“I think I know why no one pursued us.”

Lance and Pidge both turned around to see Keith standing in the doorway of the bridge. Newly dressed in black pants and a grey t-shirt, he almost looked normal. His eyes weren’t on them, however, but the front window.

“Wha-” Lance turned back to the window as well, the question dying on his lips.

As if on cue, the scanner began to screech, warning them of something ahead of them.

“Is that a Galra ship?” Pidge asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The ship floating out before them was the size of a small planet itself. Smaller ships flew in and out of a loading dock near the top of the ship, suggesting it served as a kind of station, but the cannons nearly the size of another ship themselves lining the sides implied it had a much more devious role than simple relay or repairs.

“ _Shit._ ” Pidge swore.

Lance couldn’t help up echo the sentiment. “ _Fuck!_ ”

“We have to make a jump. Now!”

Lance stumbled to the back wall as quickly as he could, as Pidge threw the ship into motion, practically flipping them on their side in an effort to turn around and put distance between them and the ship. He heard more than saw Keith fall against the wall with a loud _thump_ and a more muffled curse. At another time, he might have laughed.

“Honestly, Mullet, do you just attract the Galra wherever you go?” Lance snapped as he opened the panel in the wall. Across the bridge he could hear Hunk’s voice through the speaker, asking what was happening.

“This wasn’t us!” Keith argued immediately. “And _what_ are you doing? There’s no way we could out run that ship in this condition.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “That’s why we’re not going to run from them,” The hardware flashed to life under his hand, sparks running up his arm as he reached in. He wasn’t sure there was any way to truly become used to such a feeling. “We’re going to jump.”

Just before he closed his eyes, he saw realization wash over Keith’s expression. There was surprise, disbelief, and if he wasn’t mistaken, a little bit of awe.

“Jump? Like through a wormhole?”

The layout of the ship spread through his mind. Immediately he recognized Pidge, Meadow, and himself in the bridge, but the new, vibrant, red energy alongside his own could only be Keith’s.

“Yes,” He pushed further, looking for the rest of the passengers. “Where’s Shiro?”

“Taking a shower in the dorms. How can you jump?”

There. Shiro’s energy was an electric, almost purple presence. He was confused by the frantic movement of the ship, but he stayed put, thankfully. Kuro flickered in and out of focus in the room. His brow furrowed as he pushed further, focusing on her presence and blocking out Keith’s questions. Finally, he could pin her down, pacing through the wall passages. She wanted to look for the other khyjids, but was staying in once place. Good girl. Confident he wasn’t going to lose her presence, Lance pushed deeper into the ship. Daisy and Hunk were in the engine room. Hunk was nervous, and what felt like an equal mix of angry and sick.

“Hunk hates it when we jump while he's working.” Lance muttered.

“Hunk hates everything about flying. And jumping.” Pidge fired back. “No point being specific about circumstances now.”

Finally, he reached the back of the ship. Azure and Anise were huddled in the cargo hold amidst their supplies. Safe.

“Everyone’s accounted for. Are you ready?” Lance asked, mostly as a warning.

Rather than confirmation, Lance heard Pidge swear again, right before something hit the ship. They turned violently, the side of the ship groaning a horrifying squeal as parts of the ship were ripped off with the shot. His eyes few open and his grip on the side of the panel was the only thing keeping him in place as Pidge scrambled to hold them steady.

Keith slid across the bridge, slamming against the console next to her. But he took the displacement in stride, shakily rising to his knees and pulling up the second yoke without hesitation, helping Pidge to straighten them out.

“Lance, we need to do it now!” Pidge yelled behind her. Even from just the quick glance of her that he got, he could tell her face was white as a ghost.

Gritting his teeth, Lance focused back on the ship. Pidge, Keith, and himself in the bridge. Shiro in the dorm. Hunk by the engine.

They swerved violently to the side, surely just missing another blast meant for them.

Five khyjids. One in the bridge, one in the walls, one in the engine room, two in the cargo hold.

_“Now!”_

The wormhole all but ripped open in front of them. Pidge and Keith didn’t hesitate, throwing the ship forward as fast as it would go at nearly a quarter of its usual power.

Lance felt the last bit of the ship slip through the opening when the second blast came.

The ship tumbled back over front through the wormhole. The entire aircraft shook and groaned, outer panels ripping off and flying every which direction.

He opened his eyes, slamming the entrance to the wormhole closed just as a small Galra cruiser entered in pursuit.

The last thing he saw was the cruiser crumple, two halves already separated by a galaxy, before the ship tumbled through the side of the wormhole, shot without warning into space.

 

Lance opened his eyes, lying on his back against the ship doors. Meadow leaned over him, wet nose pressed against his cheek.

“’M okay,” he groaned, pushing her away from his face.

Sitting up took almost all of the energy he could muster. Twisted, crumpled parts of the ship nearly boxed him in entirely. Over the smallest mound, he could see Pidge slumped over the console, one hand hung limply at her side. Keith laid on the ground beside her, blood dripping down the side of his face, but Lance was fairly certain he was still breathing.

Meadow appeared unhurt, but her normal, mossy color was a mutilated splatter of green, brown, and black. She was distressed. Understandably.

“It’s okay,” Lance whispered, running a hand over her head. She flinched away from his touch, and when he saw the blood smeared over her forehead, he understood why. His hand didn’t hurt, but it had to be his blood. “I’m sorry, it’s okay.” He promised softly.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, but as he sat up, something tugged at his leg, pulling a whimper past his lips despite his best effort not to cry out. Part of the wrecked ship that was blocking him in had pinned his left leg. He fell back down with a frustrated groan. He couldn’t hear anything on the rest of the ship. He needed to make sure everyone else was okay.

_They had to be okay._

He opened his eyes, looking for something that he could use to pull himself out, or push the wreckage off him, when his eyes found the teludav panel. The door was wedged shut, metal twisted into a grotesque shape that surely wouldn’t open, even if he could reach it, but it gave him an idea.

Lance wasn’t sure if it would work, but he pressed his hands back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to focus on how the ship felt. Like when they jump. Normally, he had direct access to the teludav to amplify anything he felt, or the khyjids. But usually it took all of them. He had never tried to find everyone on his own. Meadow alone probably wouldn’t be able to help him see into the ship, but he had to try. He needed to make sure everyone was okay. Seeming to understand what he needed, Meadow crouched close to him, dropping her head to rest in the crook of his neck, her tail wrapping around one of his legs, the one not currently pinned under part of the ship, covering as much of him as her small body could.

He focused, desperate for a feeling, something that would reassure him everyone was alive. He pushed and pushed, giving himself a headache as he strained for something. He could bring up the familiar layout of the ship on his own, but the spark of energy he normally felt was nonexistent. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. This was how it was going to end? Pinned under his ruined ship, unable to get out or help his friends? Not even in the pursuit of something good? Just running for his life. Like usual.

Meadow lapped at the tears dripping down his cheeks when he felt it.

A spark.

She nuzzled close to him again, and the ship flashed to life in a blaze of blue, spread out before his mind’s eye.

He sobbed in relief. His own blue energy rested against the ship doors, pinned down by Meadow’s blazing energy. He felt the other khyjids first after that. Kuro in the dormitory, agitated and hurt, but alive. Daisy in the engine room, angry, but okay. Azure was frantic in the cargo hold, Anise unconscious, but all alive.

The next energy he noticed was Keith’s. The blazing red still unfamiliar, harsh, but stronger than the others. It flickered in and out of his mind’s eye as if not sure it wanted him to discover it, but finally settled. It was subdued compared to what Lance felt before the jump, but Keith was surely alive. Beside him, Pidge’s own sharp green presence was solid. She was unconscious, but alive as well.

Beside Kuro, Shiro was alive and awake.

Down the hall, Hunk was also unconscious, but as far as Lance could tell by the warm yellow of his energy, he was unhurt.

_Thank God._

Lance dropped his connection, opening his eyes with a renewed vigor. Everyone was okay. They were going to be okay. He was going to make sure of it. As soon as he got his damn leg unstuck. Meadow licked his chin before turning around, leaping back over what separated them from the rest of the bridge. Slowly, Lance pushed himself back into a sitting position. His leg was turned under the metal but as far as he could tell it wasn’t broken. If he could push the wreckage off, he should be okay. Across the blockade, Meadow watched him, ears perked, listening, looking for signs of wakefulness from everyone else.

“Wish me luck,” Lance told her, scooting forward as much as he could in his position. Her ears twitched in acknowledgement.

Twisting at the waist, Lance lodged one of his shoulders under the highest part of the wreckage and pushed up. The metal groaned against the push but didn’t budge. Lance stopped to catch his breath, before trying again. He bent his unpinned leg to push against the “floor,” giving himself more leverage against the thing. It groaned louder, but didn’t seem to move, until finally there was a harsh scrape of metal against metal. Gritting his teeth, Lance pushed further, when suddenly it lifted up, like nothing. Startled, he turned to find Shiro, holding it up with his prosthetic. His face was covered in dirt or grease or something, but clean shaven, and he smiled softly down at Lance.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” He said. With his freehand he reached down, pulling Lance to his feet.

Lance nearly sobbed in relief. “I’m glad you have super strength in that arm of yours,” Once on his feet again, Lance shook Shiro’s hand before dropping it. “Thank you.”

Shiro nodded, patting him on the shoulder before he dropped the wreckage again. “What happened?”

Lance shook his head. “I remember a Galra ship chasing us and flipping through a wormhole but nothing after that. So, I’m just gonna say, we crashed.”

Shiro looked away from him, expression tight with worry when he saw Keith and Pidge. Lance reached out this time, to grasp his shoulder. “I can’t explain how I know this, but everyone’s alive. Mostly just unconscious.”

Shiro opened his mouth to say something when his eyes dropped to Lance’s side, widening. “Lance, you’re bleeding.”

Lance looked down as well, grimacing as he saw the tattered remains of his shirt and the bottom of his jacket soaked in blood. Shrugging off his jacket with a wince, Lance tied the sleeves around his waist as tight as he could, hoping it would be enough pressure to staunch the bleeding for the time being.

“It’ll do for now,” he reassured Shiro when he saw the man’s disbelieving look.

Satisfied that he was okay, Meadow bounded over to Pidge, nudging the girl with her nose until Pidge groaned.

“Wha’ s’t girl?” She mumbled.

Lance’s breath stuttered out of him in relief. Even knowing she was alive, the proof was an added weight off his shoulders. He stumbled over to her as well, leaning heavily against the chair.

“How you feelin’, Pigeon?”

“Lance?” Pidge finally sat up, holding a hand to her forehead. She squinted up at him from behind cracked, crooked glasses. “What happened?”

“I’m gonna guess we crashed.” He answered. His side protested with a sharp burn, but he leant forward anyways, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Pidge gasped. “Lance, you’re bleeding.”

Lance waved her off. “We’ll worry about that after we make sure everyone else is okay.”

He could tell from her expression she didn’t like it, but she let him turn away. Carefully lowering himself to his knees, Lance leaned forward to feel for a pulse under Keith’s chin. Just as he found it, Keith’s dark eyes flew open. A hand went to his wrist, a bruising grip that held him in place as Keith’s eyes scanned over his face. For some reason he couldn’t, didn’t want to, name, Lance felt his own pulse spike at the intense gaze.

Finally, Keith’s grip loosened. “Sorry,” His eyes flickered away from Lance’s face. “What happened?”

“We crashed. Are you okay?”

Rather than answer, Keith sat up. “Shiro?” He asked.

Lance moved to the side, allowing Keith to see past him. Keith stumbled over him without another word. Throwing his arms around Shiro, he pulled him into a hug. Lance watched a pained expression come over Shiro as he returned the embrace.

“I’m okay, kiddo.”

“I’m going to check on Hunk. And the other khyjids. Kuro was injured.” Lance told Pidge, quietly, trying his best not to interrupt the brothers. If she had a question about how he knew that, she didn’t voice it.

The doorway of the bridge was bent out of shape, and the ship itself was tilted to the side, so it took some crawling and careful maneuvering to get through it. He moved unsteadily through the ship, nursing his previously pinned leg. Maybe not broken, but definitely sore.

Some piece of equipment Lance probably should have been able to recognize stuck out of the engine room doorway, holding the door open. With the tilt to the ship, Lance had to sit down on what once was the wall, and drop carefully into the engine room. Daisy watched him stumble trying to stay on his feet, while crouching over Hunk’s unmoving form. Her normally golden pelt was more of a dark brown than yellow.

“You takin’ care of the big guy, Daisy-Maisy?” Lance asked softly. He bent down to feel for a pulse. Even if he had gotten a confirmation that everyone was alive, he needed physical proof. He needed a guarantee. He couldn’t lose anyone he considered family. Not again.

When he found the steady beat flowing under Hunk’s warm skin, he let out a relieved breath. He was okay.

Daisy nudged Hunk’s head, urging him awake with an insistent shuffle. He was resistant to it at first, and then even as he began to come to, he waved Daisy away with a request for more time.

“Get up and let us make sure you’re okay, big guy.” Lance said was a laugh, joining Daisy in on the insistent pushing.

That, finally, got Hunk to lift his head, squinting as he looked around the room. He groaned, dropping his head once again as he realized what had happened.

“I hate flying.”

Lance laughed, patting his head. “I know, bud. I’m sorry.”

Getting to his feet again, Lance looked around the room. “I’m not sure how we’re going to get out of here, though.”

“What are you even doing in here?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Making sure you’re okay. Obviously. No appreciation.”

“Don’t give yourself reasons to have to check on me, and you will find I can be very appreciative.” Hunk grumbled. “And don’t touch anything.”

Lance froze, hand inches away from a bent piece of piping. “Hunk, the ship’s a mess, what does it matter?” He turned back around, but Hunk simply watched him with an unimpressed expression. Though he was at least sitting up now. “We need something to boost us up so we can get out.” He pointed up. “In case you didn’t notice, the door’s on the ceiling now.”

“Need a hand?” Pidge’s head hung upside down through the door. Meadow stuck her head down too, purring softly when Daisy stood on her hind legs to try and reach her.

“Pidge, no offense, but I don’t think you can pull us up.” Lance replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pidge stuck her tongue out at him. “Fine. But don’t say I never offer to help.”

She disappeared, but a moment later Keith was leaning through the same opening. “I can help.” Lance wasn’t sure he believed that either, but Keith seemed to immediately sense Lance’s doubt. “I’m stronger than I look.”

“Mm…what about Shiro? He helped pick part of the ship off of me, I believe he could lift us out of here.” Lance argued.

“Part of the ship was _on_ you?” Hunk asked, while Keith rolled his eyes.

“His hands are full. Come on.” Keith offered a hand, one eyebrow raised in a silent challenge.

With a huff, Lance found the highest point in the room from which he could still reach the door. He wrapped both hands around Keith’s outstretched arm, while Keith’s hand went around his wrist. Keith flexed his hand around Lance’s arm, making sure he had a good grip.

“On three, push off.” He ordered, meeting Lance’s eye. Lance nodded.

Keith’s expression hardened as he strained to pull Lance up with only one hand, but despite Lance’s doubts, he got Lance high enough for Lance to grasp onto the wall. With Pidge’s help then, the two hauled him up out of the room the rest of the way. Lance rolled over onto his back, trying to focus on something other than the screaming pain in his side from being suspended and then scraped against the doorway.

Looking back, he found Shiro holding Kuro as best he could.

“She’s letting you hold her?” He asked in surprise.

Shiro half shrugged one shoulder. “I think ‘letting’ is probably a more generous word than she or I would use. She came under great protest. But something must have happened during the crash, you were right, there’s a wound-”

“On her back.” Lance nodded, sitting up. He figured as much. “It’s an old wound, it reopens a lot. Thank you, for getting her. As soon as we get Hunk outta here, I’ll get some stuff to sew her back up.”

Shiro nodded his understanding.

Crawling back towards the opening, Lance looked down. “Ready to come up, big guy?”

Even through the shadows of the room, Lance could see Hunk’s worried look. “Uh, I don’t know if you guys noticed, but I’m not exactly the lightest person.”

Keith made a face. “Couldn’t he just make himself really small?

Lance shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, he’ll weigh the same.”

“But he could make himself really tall and pull himself out.” Pidge reminded them helpfully.

“…Oh yeah.”

A few, short minutes later, Hunk joined them outside of the engine room.

Keith looked back down with a strange expression. “What about the khyjid?”

Rather than answer, Lance clicked his tongue. And muffled his laugh when Keith scrambled out of the way for Daisy who easily scaled the wall out of the room. Daisy immediately went to Meadow, butting their heads with a quiet purr. Ignoring Keith’s glare across the room, Lance turned back to Shiro.

“Can you find a place to lie her down? Probably back in the bridge? There should be something in the cargo hold I can use to sew her up, and I need to go back there and check on the other two.” Shiro nodded, turning back around and heading towards the bridge, careful not to jostle Kuro as he moved. Lance then turned to Pidge and Hunk next. “We still have emergency lights so we have reserve power if nothing else. See if you can find out anything about this planet. Considering how badly wrecked we are, there’s probably a hole somewhere, but we’re not dead, so the atmosphere probably isn’t totally poisonous, but on the off chance that it actually is and we just don’t have a hole letting air in, I’d like to know.”

“Why? We don’t have enough supplies for us to survive once we run out of air in here, and if going outside will kill us, we definitely don’t have a way to get off this planet. Not that much of the ship is probably salvageable anyways.” Pidge reminded him helpfully.

Lance opened and closed his mouth a few times, not sure how to reply.

Finally, he settled on: “Let’s worry about one problem at a time.” 

Hunk patted his shoulder as he got to his feet. “Nice try, man.”

Despite her difficulty, Pidge followed after Hunk and Shiro without any other argument.

Lance turned to Keith. “I…don’t actually have a task for you.”

“You’re missing an opportunity to boss me around? I’m astonished.” Keith replied, deadpan.

Lance scowled. “Watch yourself, or I’ll toss you back in the engine room.”

Surprisingly, Keith didn’t actually have an argument after that. He simply followed after Lance. The closer they got to the cargo hold, the tighter a fit it became, until they were crawling on their hands and knees, mindful of broken pipes sticking out of the floor, and sparks that ran through the walls. Lance hoped the cargo hold wasn’t in the same shape, or he had no idea how they would find anything. Including Azure and Anise. Thankfully, as the approached the door, the space began to widen again.

“I’m not sure I want to know what the ship looks like on the outside,” Keith muttered as they stopped before the door.

Lance silently agreed.

One wall inside the cargo hold was collapsed, taking with it most of their food supply. The medicine still seemed mostly untouched by the crash, though Lance doubted some of the more delicate bottles withheld the ride. He directed Keith to where bandages and thread would most likely be, while he kept an eye out for Azure and Anise.

He clicked his tongue a few times, but there was no response from either khyjid. When he reached the far back of the cargo hold, he figured out why.

The entire back wall of the cargo hold had been ripped away, by the fight or flight or crash. Outside of the ship, Azure stood beside a sitting Anise, her normally grey pelt shining a magnificent blue under a bright light. And more green than Lance had seen in ten years spread out behind them, as far as his eye could see.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come yell at me, stalk the progress of fics, talk about this au in-depth, any, all, or none of the above on tumblr @ thathopelessromantic.tumblr.com
> 
> I'm not a particularly strong artists, but there is a [sketch of how I envision the khyjids on my blog](http://thathopelessromantic.tumblr.com/post/169900282004/a-noise-at-the-front-of-the-hold-startled-lance)


End file.
